1&1 Leads Opposition of ICANN/VeriSign Draft Proposal for .com Domain Administration

Registrars Say Plan Would Undermine Competition, Raise Prices for End-Users

PHILADELPHIA, November 29, 2005 – A draft proposal between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and domain registry giant VeriSign, Inc. that would give VeriSign exclusive control over the .com domain, is being vigorously opposed by a group of notable domain registrars led by 1&1 Internet, who claim the plan harms competition within the Internet industry and could negatively impact end-users worldwide.

1&1, along with almost all major domain registrars (companies who register Internet addresses on behalf of their customers with registry organizations like VeriSign), is critical of both the content of the proposed agreement—which, among other things, would allow VeriSign to arbitrarily increase domain fees up to seven percent per year—and the manner in which it was drafted.

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