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The Race Is On For .net

mikrorechner writes "As reported previously, ICANN is looking for a new registrar for the .net tld. The biddings are in now, and The Register has a lengthy article about the five contenders. Their guess is that only two really have a chance: VeriSign and DeNIC. We will know more in two months."

85 comments

  1. Fraud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Speaking of domain registration, I found this website that allows you to register the domain slashdot.org

    What a fraud!!

    Anybody knows who to complain or what to do to take this idiot down?

    1. Re:Fraud by randomblast · · Score: 4, Funny

      > Anybody knows who to complain or what to do to take this idiot down?

      Yeah, post the link to slashdot...

      --
      ...these aren't my real teeth.
    2. Re:Fraud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Here's what they do:
      We provide innovative solutions to satisfy the demand for sophisticated information systems that are an integral part of Government and commercial infrastructures.

      Obviously nothing needs to be done to take these jokers down.
    3. Re:Fraud by simcop2387 · · Score: 5, Funny

      fraud you say?
      i just bought nsswitch.com from them!

    4. Re:Fraud by northcat · · Score: 1

      Well, when you go to the page to pay, it says This is a DEMO Server. Your Credit Card WILL NOT be Billed. So its either just a site which is still being set up or a bigger fraud than parent post said.

    5. Re:Fraud by archen · · Score: 1

      the ultimate dupe!

    6. Re:Fraud by sacbhale · · Score: 1

      Speaking of which they even have google.org for sale :)
      i think u can get a lot more hits if u buy that...

    7. Re:Fraud by magickalhack · · Score: 1

      Anybody knows who to complain or what to do to take this idiot down?

      Well, as far as taking them down, posting a link to them on Slashdot was probably a good first step...

      --
      This Sig Kills Fascists
    8. Re:Fraud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      g4techtv.com is also available.... lmao

    9. Re:Fraud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google.org is available....

    10. Re:Fraud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But, oddly enough, fark.com is already reserved.

    11. Re:Fraud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Judging by the very OpenSRS look of their interface and the names of the CGI scripts, I'd say they are in the process of setting themselves up as a reseller. OpenSRS requires a "testing" phase for new resellers, wherein they have to connect to a "demo" server and successfully submit a certain number of domain registrations of various configurations. I.e., deomostrate to OpenSRS that they have the script correctly configured.

      That demo server doesn't actually verify the availablity of domains requested, since the registrations aren't "real".

      The most these folks seem to be guilty of is relying on obscurity to hide their testing server.

  2. microsoft by myukew · · Score: 4, Funny

    Isn't .Net (c) by Microsoft already?

    1. Re:microsoft by BosstonesOwn · · Score: 0

      Nahh they own .world :)

      --
      This package Does Not Contain a Winner
    2. Re:microsoft by priestx · · Score: 0

      Oddly enough, .net the domain isn't by Microsoft, it's owned by ICANN. .NET the language and code is by Micrsoft. This was supposed to confuse people more... or should've..

      --
      "To be is to do." -Socrates
      "To do is to be." -Jean-Paul Sartre
      "Do-be-do-be-do." -Frank Sinatra
    3. Re:microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      nonetheless, isn't microsoft the logical choice? I mean, it would bring home the concept of microsoft's private internet, and people would know exactly what they're dealing with when they visit .net sites. obviously, most /. readers would probably avoid using or registering such sites, but a vast percentage of the online population might feel quite comfortable with this arrangement, no?

    4. Re:microsoft by kabloom · · Score: 1

      shouldn't ICANN sue Microsoft over trademark infringement? Or is .NET just not trademarked?

    5. Re:microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      shouldn't ICANN sue Microsoft over trademark infringement? Or is .NET just not trademarked?

      Are you some sort of Communist? ICANN is made up of all sorts of people, including our ancient enemies (who we have always been at war with) Europeans! If anything MS should sue ICANN for being a liberal fancy shmantsy non-profit, probably expect my tax dollars to pay for their welfare parasite degeneracy.

  3. Anyone but Verisign by H_Fisher · · Score: 4, Insightful
    P. J. O'Rourke wrote that giving money and power to government was like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. With VeriSign's track record being what it is, I'd say that giving them .net might end up being the same kind of bad decision.

    I know there's no totally-impartial, non-profit-driven corporation or entity that can do this job well, but Verisign's past practices ("Site Finder" and its blind ignorance of how the Internet should work is a perfect example) have led me to see them as worse than the rest of the pack. I simply don't trust them to do the job right because they can't understand that the Internet != the WWW.

    1. Re:Anyone but Verisign by wertarbyte · · Score: 5, Informative

      I know there's no totally-impartial, non-profit-driven corporation or entity that can do this job well,

      Actually, DeNIC is a non-profit organization (http://www.denic.de/en/denic/index.html), and they manage 8336375 .de-Domains at the moment (http://www.denic.de/en/domains/statistiken/index. html)

      --
      Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh.
    2. Re:Anyone but Verisign by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So who would you suggest? Microsoft? The US Govt?

    3. Re:Anyone but Verisign by maxwell+demon · · Score: 5, Funny
      So who would you suggest? Microsoft? The US Govt?

      SCO! :-)
      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    4. Re:Anyone but Verisign by Nicholas+Evans · · Score: 2, Funny

      If SCO weren't heading for bankruptcy, I'd prefer them to VeriSign. At least SCO has demonstrated that they can understand complex systems (The US legal system), even if they do abuse them...

    5. Re:Anyone but Verisign by Scott+Byer · · Score: 1

      > ... ("Site Finder" and its blind ignorance ...

      Blind ignorance?

      Or open-eyed arrogance?

      --
      > cat ~/.signature | grep -v bullshit

      >

    6. Re:Anyone but Verisign by norfolkboy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "I know there's no totally-impartial, non-profit-driven corporation or entity that can do this job well"

      I'd say that Nominet do an excellent job of managing .UK domains

      www.nic.uk

    7. Re:Anyone but Verisign by burns210 · · Score: 1

      It seems like the whole 8.3 filename issue all over again. Is there a better way to dilute the domain name space such that we don't have to rely on 2 databases( .net and .com that make the bulk of websites) run by 2 corporations that are in it entirely for profit?

      I think it is possible to develop some type of DNS system that is decentralized and secure enough to be reliable and trustworthy, but how do we move to a place where REGISTERING for a domain isn't centralized on 2 corporations? Country codes like .us or .ca?

    8. Re:Anyone but Verisign by Aurix · · Score: 1

      What's so wrong about a registrar being in it for profit?

      As long as we have someone to bitch to when it fails, and something is done.

      If the not-for-profit organisations such as ICANN and friends actually worked, your point might be taken with more than a grain of salt. But as it is, the commercial registrars at least do what they have to (in order to keep their profit).

  4. Verisign stinks by digitalgimpus · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    anyone but verisign...

    they royally stink. Just google "verisign site:slashdot.org" to see why.

    1. Re:Verisign stinks by ThogScully · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Not that I disagree, but just sending people to a bunch of discussions about Verisign on Slashdot is not exactly incontrivertible evidence that they suck. There are lots of reasons, but the Slashdot crowd not liking them is not a reason that speaks to anyone but the Slashdot crowd.
      -N

      --
      I've nothing to say here...
  5. How do you know... by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Funny
    Q: How do you know your sysadmin is on the phone with a Verisign rep?

    A: You can hear screams of "YOU FUCKING INCOMPETENT COCKSUCKERS!" from six cubes away rather than the usual three.

    1. Re:How do you know... by D-Cypell · · Score: 1

      Our server hosting site is verisign??

      Wow... live and learn.

    2. Re:How do you know... by myov · · Score: 1

      Should have been a +5 Informative...

      I've been on hold for at least 20 minutes with them because their web system rejects my dns servers. Listening to the same 1 song on infinite repeat. I'm sure (if they actually answer) they'll say something like "Your user ID doesn't give you permission to change DNS". Ignoring, of course, that we called two weeks ago to make sure we had the right access. They'll fix it as soon as I send my blood type on fake company letterhead.

      The last domain I transfered from them was blocked. When I called them about it, I was basically told to pay for another year, then I can do whatever I want.

      --
      I use Macs to up my productivity, so up yours Microsoft!
    3. Re:How do you know... by binaryspiral · · Score: 1

      You must work in my office! Sorry about that - they wouldn't fix the DNS entry.

    4. Re:How do you know... by WD_40 · · Score: 1

      Wait... you actually got a Verisign rep on the phone?

      Please submit your answer via facsimile.

      --

      "With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine." -- RFC 1925

  6. Not for profit by wertarbyte · · Score: 5, Interesting
    As you can see here, DeNIC is an organization that does not aim for profit:

    "In Deutschland ist es die DENIC, die diese Aufgabe als "designated administrator" im Sinne des RFC1591 übernommen hat. Sie erfüllt sie ohne Gewinnerzielungsabsicht zum Nutzen und Wohle der gesamten deutschen Internet Community, neutral und unabhängig, fachkundig und verantwortungsbewusst, diskriminierungsfrei und in Übereinstimmung mit den international anerkannten Standards für den Betrieb einer Domain-Registrierungsstelle."

    This roughly translates to

    "In germany, DeNic took this duty as 'designated administrator' according to RFC1591. It achieves its duty without any aim for financial profits, but for the benefit of the hole internet community, neutrally and independently, competently and responsibly, withouth discrimination and in accordance to international standards for domain registration services."

    --
    Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh.
    1. Re:Not for profit by Florian+Weimer · · Score: 3, Informative

      DENIC is not as neutral as it claims to be. It pursues the interests of its members (like every good co-op should do), not those of all Internet users. Sometimes, the interests diverge. For example, DENIC members generally want easy domain transfers with as little validation as possible (because they make money by transferring domains), but most corporate users want rock-solid delegations that cannot be altered by anyone except themselves.

    2. Re:Not for profit by joel48 · · Score: 2, Informative

      There is an "unofficial" translation of their domain guidelines here. The first entry containing the phrase "without any profit motivation".

    3. Re:Not for profit by Elektroschock · · Score: 1

      The fact is that denic does a pretty good job without much overhead. That's why there are so many de domains.

      I believe that a Co-op is the right organisational framework.

      Don't get the UN or Verisign involved. The UN is a diplomat's talkshop with a lot of overhead. Esp. those Internet Governance people shall get wiped out. They make a lot of fuzz in the lobby of ICANN an they know that they had real success at the ITU (=UN)

  7. Can't see how Verisign could win.. (article) by Staplerh · · Score: 3, Informative

    Seems a little sketch. The article clearly argues that DENIC eG will win the contract. These two snippets say all, despite their conclusion that doesn't really support the evidence that they themselves introduced. From TFA regarding DENIC eG:

    So Denic isn't messing about and while ICANN would love nothing more than VeriSign to lose the .net registry, it would be equally delighted to see Denic win it. Why? Because Denic is the most powerful registry outside of ICANN control.

    So it appears that The Registrar thinks that DENIC eG will win the bid. This is especially apparent when contrasted with their earlier snippet about Verisign's bid:

    These very reasons are also why ICANN would desperately love for its old foe to be humbled. With VeriSign weakened, ICANN can start to assert itself properly over the Internet. It may even mean the end of the lengthy legal battle that VeriSign has been running against ICANN - something that is as much a bartering chip as it is a legal dispute.

    So there, the Registrar actually thinks that DENIC eG will win, despite their own conclusion and the story submission.

    --
    "There's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all."
    - Bob Dylan
    1. Re:Can't see how Verisign could win.. (article) by acidblood · · Score: 2, Insightful
      So Denic isn't messing about and while ICANN would love nothing more than VeriSign to lose the .net registry, it would be equally delighted to see Denic win it. Why? Because Denic is the most powerful registry outside of ICANN control.
      So it appears that The Registrar thinks that DENIC eG will win the bid. This is especially apparent when contrasted with their earlier snippet about Verisign's bid:

      That was just an unfortunate choice of words by The Register. Reading further one sees that Denic is aggressively opposed to ICANN, so what the article author meant was that ICANN would hate to see either Verisign or Denic winning the bid.
      --

      Join the NFSNET. Our prime goal is making little numbers out of big ones. http://www.nfsnet.org/

    2. Re:Can't see how Verisign could win.. (article) by Zocalo · · Score: 3, Insightful
      so what the article author meant was that ICANN would hate to see either Verisign or Denic winning the bid.

      In which case, I suspect that ICANN would probably have stuck with the Devil they already knew and hoped that the move would have smoothed the troubled waters between them and Verisign. That would however have led to all sorts of allegations about the selection process. Assuming that he's come to the same conclusions as the Register then the appointment of the independent body is quite a canny move by Dr. Twomey. Whatever happens, they should hopefully avoid any mudslinging after the announcement and can get on with what they should be doing.

      Personally, I'd have to say that DeNIC is much better positioned than Verisign to be our .net gTLD overseer come July. DeNIC already runs a ccTLD with more domains that .net, so there should be no problems there. Moving the .net gTLD to DeNIC means that all the main gTLDs are managed by seperate entities; diversity is good here. Moving control of gTLDs about is certainly doable because .org has already been reassigned, and DeNIC has the additional advantage of knowing where PIR had problems. Finally, DeNIC is not a US company which addresses another issue for ICANN; they can use that as an argument against the UN/ITU's claims that control of the Internet is too US centric.

      By contrast, all Verisign seems to be offering is a continuation of the status quo, for which they have managed to earn themselves a less than stellar reputation. Sure, they can do the job, but where's the vision? Big changes are afoot for the Internet over the next few years with VoIP, streaming media services and more all gaining momentum; I hardly think "status quo" is going to be a winning argument against that dynamic backdrop.

      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    3. Re:Can't see how Verisign could win.. (article) by morganew · · Score: 2, Insightful
      By contrast, all Verisign seems to be offering is a continuation of the status quo, for which they have managed to earn themselves a less than stellar reputation. Sure, they can do the job, but where's the vision?

      Vision? I don't know if you have noticed, but ICANN has basically prevented anyone from doing anything visionary. ICANN has consistently delayed reconsideration rulings http://www.ombuds.org/reconsideration/.

      Heck, VeriSign has been seeking approval for Wait Listing Service for years, and ICANN can't even seem to rule on that! http://free2innovate.net/archives/000430.html

      As Tucows put it "The principal problem for registrars has been that ICANN has proven incapable of making decisions or enforcing its contracts on matters of commercial practice. http://www.byte.org/heathrow/tucows-comments-icann -reform-third-v0r0d1-073002.htm

      The reality is that ICANN is completely without vision themselves, and wouldn't know what vision looked like if it bit them on the ass.

      "Internet Time" is now controlled by 19th Century bureaucrats.
      --
      A sig?!? I don't think so.....
    4. Re:Can't see how Verisign could win.. (article) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Claiming that DENIC runs a registry with more domains than .NET is a bit of a red-herring:

      DENIC currently offers an email-based registry. To support .NET, DENIC would have to develop an RRP and/or EPP-based registry. They have no track record in this area.

      Perhaps they're only saving grace is that they know how to manage the accounting for 8 million domains.

    5. Re:Can't see how Verisign could win.. (article) by Juanvaldes · · Score: 1

      "Internet Time" is now controlled by 19th Century bureaucrats.
      And it only took 15 years! Now that is progress! ;-)

  8. root for Afilias by MagicMerlin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Afilias runs the .org domain on PostgreSQL. It has been pretty smooth, no matter what the article says, and it was a huge embarassment for Oracle who ran a huge disinformation campaign against PostgreSQL and open source in general.

    Merlin

    1. Re:root for Afilias by sjlutz · · Score: 1

      I happen to know people at Afflias. I also know for a fact that they have Oracle licenses that were purchased when Affilias was formed. (2001'ish) I cannot imagine spending the money on Oracle and not using it. This of course doesn't mean that they couldn't use Postgres too.

    2. Re:root for Afilias by jadavis · · Score: 1
      Afilias employees are regulars around the PostgreSQL mailing lists (and important developers). The company also funds development of important features and related projects (notably Slony-I, a bsd licensed replication engine).

      From the Afilias Website:

      July 7-11, 2003: Afilias database expert Andrew Sullivan will present the session "Backing a 24/7 Registry with PostgreSQL" at the O'Reilly Open Source Software Convention 2003 at the Portland Marriott Downtown.


      Thatindicates to me that Afilias conducts its primary operations with PostgreSQL.
      --
      Social scientists are inspired by theories; scientists are humbled by facts.
    3. Re:root for Afilias by tgl · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, you don't know what you're talking about. Afilias runs all of their registries on Postgres, and has done so since day one. (I know, I was there helping them go live with .info.)

      If you want independent confirmation, check out their bids for the registries, such as
      http://www.icann.org/tlds/org/questions-to-applica nts-13.htm#Response13TheInternetSocietyISOC
      They got considerable flak for this the first couple times (orchestrated none too subtly by Oracle) ... but the competitors seem to have figured out that that argument isn't winning.

  9. The only one that has chance is VeriSign by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ICANN has become an incredibly corrupt government entity. In reality, all bidders should have a chance. But when you're ICANN, you like to short-circuit the process. I suspect other bidders may not have been willing to give ICANN the $0.75 tax/fee they want from registrations, since it is wrong. VeriSign is the only one they know can control. Hence the contract will pass to them.

  10. The biddings are in now by thegrommit · · Score: 1

    The biddings are in now

    That's an interesting turn of phrase. Perhaps our old friend Timothy should have done some minor editing.

    It's amusing how the Register comments on the credibility of various bidders, while acknowledging that verisign has been conducting a full-court press campaign.

  11. Looking For Someone? by neoform · · Score: 1

    I'll take it!

    --
    MABASPLOOM!
  12. are current registrations honored? by v1 · · Score: 1

    I've got a .NET domain registered (with register.com) for the next 9 yrs. I assume this will transfer over automatically?

    --
    I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
    1. Re:are current registrations honored? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Yes, and the money will all go to the _current_ registry. If Verisign loses, whoever follows in its steps will have to keep your domain in the database for free until you need to renew it.

  13. Re: Registrar and registry backend processes. by r5t8i6y3 · · Score: 2, Informative

    from: http://article.gmane.org/gmane.org.operators.nanog /28482

    From: panix.com>
    Subject: Re: Registrar and registry backend processes.
    Newsgroups: gmane.org.operators.nanog
    Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 18:16:25 -0800

    [second posting attempt, apologies if the first identical post ever arrives]

    On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 15:47:50 -0700, Michael Loftis
    wgops.com> wrote:

    >It's clearly broken, and needs to be put up for
    >public review by 'the powers that be' so that it can
    >be fixed. What's happening now feels close to a
    >boiler room poker game, noone seems to know all the
    >players, and even fewer know all the rules, so in the
    >end everyone is a loser.

    i suspect part of the reason for it feeling this way is because of the large amounts of money that are made specifically off of the .com and the .net registries. ~$1.2 _billion_ for .com and ~$30 million for .net annually (numbers from the following article). for what? the actual costs involved in administering these databases can't be anywhere near the revenue generated. the public is being bled for the greed of a few (as usual), imho.

    anyhow, it also makes me wonder about the motivations behind this incident coming so close to the application deadline for administration of the .net registry ($30 million/year x 6 years minimum = $180,000,000). i dislike conspiracy theories but i'm also a realpolitiker.

    david
    --
    P.S.
    can anyone comment on the reputations of the .net registry administration contenders (no need to comment on verisign)?

    VeriSign Has Challengers to Run .Net, the Domain
    By ELIZABETH OLSON
    The New York Times

    Published: January 17, 2005

    WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 - As long as the Internet runs smoothly, few people think too much about its workings. But later this month, the system's underpinnings will become a topic of debate when rival companies publicly bid to run .net, one of the Internet's most popular domains.

    This will be the first time that VeriSign's .net franchise will be challenged. While .net is not as ubiquitous as .com, it has more than five million registered domain names, which translates daily into millions of page views, 155 billion e-mail messages and some $1.4 million in commercial transactions, according to VeriSign, the company in Mountain View, Calif., that manages .com, as well as .net.

    About 40 percent of government domains allow access through .net, including the White House, the United States Senate, Homeland Security agencies and the Social Security Administration, making it a vital Internet transportation layer, said Tom Galvin, a spokesman for VeriSign.

    So far, at least three companies in addition to VeriSign have indicated that they plan to vie for the franchise, which expires June 30. They are NeuStar, a Sterling, Va., company that runs .biz, and Afilias, which manages .info. A nonprofit firm in Frankfurt, Denic eG, which manages Germany's eight million registered .de domain names, has also indicated that it is planning to bid.

    Selecting the domain manager is the job of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. But Icann finds itself in a ticklish position because it has publicly clashed with VeriSign over the company's proposed Site Finder service, which would redirect queries from inactive or defunct Web addresses to a search engine supported by advertisers signed up by VeriSign.

    When Icann concluded that was an unacceptable diversion and refused to allow the service, VeriSign accused the group

  14. Guess I was mistaken by Faust7 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    .Net? Hell, I thought Microsoft owned that already.

    1. Re:Guess I was mistaken by Anita+Coney · · Score: 1

      Seriously, I'm surprised that Microsoft isn't out to buy it!!!

      --
      If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
    2. Re:Guess I was mistaken by NYhXc · · Score: 0

      .net domain has nothing to do with .NET platform from Micro$oft. And domain registry has never been M$'s business. End of story!

      --
      This is what I am
      I can't make it stop
      No matter how much I wanna change
      I can't make it go away
    3. Re:Guess I was mistaken by Anita+Coney · · Score: 1

      I know that. But Microsoft has been hyping the term ".NET" for SO long it would only make sense for them to buy it!

      I never understood why Microsoft spent so much money hyping a word that wouldn't survive as a trademark. But then again, look at the terms "Windows" "Word" and heck, look at my signature!

      --
      If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
  15. no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    registry, not registrar. There are tons of registrars for each TLD, but one registry.

  16. Re: Registrars serve no useful purpose by r5t8i6y3 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    from: http://article.gmane.org/gmane.org.operators.nanog /28565

    From: David M. Besonen panix.com>
    Subject: Re: Registrars serve no useful purpose
    Newsgroups: gmane.org.operators.nanog
    Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 09:06:31 -0800

    [a dated, biased (what isn't?), insightful, and
    relevant interview]

    Published on Policy DevCenter
    (http://www.oreillynet.com/policy/)
    http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/policy/2002/12/05/ karl.html

    Karl Auerbach: ICANN "Out of Control"
    by Richard Koman
    12/05/2002

    Editor's note: Strong forces are reshaping the Internet these days. To understand these forces--governmental, business, and technical--Richard Koman interviews the people in the midst of the changes.

    This month, Richard talks to Karl Auerbach, a public board member of ICANN and one of the Internet governing body's strongest critics.

    October's distributed, denial-of-service attack against the domain name system--the most serious yet, in which seven of the thirteen DNS roots were cut off from the Internet--put a spotlight on ICANN, the nongovernmental corporation responsible for Internet addressing and DNS. The security of DNS is on ICANN's watch. Why is it so susceptible to attack, when the Internet as a whole is touted as being able to withstand nuclear Armageddon?

    It's religious dogma, says Karl Auerbach, a public representative to ICANN's board. There's no reason DNS shouldn't be decentralized, except that ICANN wants to maintain central control over this critical function. Worse, Auerbach said in a telephone interview with O'Reilly Network, ICANN uses its domain name dispute resolution process to expand the rights of trademark holders, routinely taking away domains from people with legitimate rights to them, only to reward them to multinational corporations with similar names.

    Auerbach--who successfully sued ICANN over access to corporate documents (ICANN wanted him to sign a nondisclosure agreement before he could see the documents)--will only be an ICANN director for a few more weeks. As part of ICANN's "reform" process, the ICANN board voted last month to end public representation on the board. As of December 15, there will be zero public representatives on the ICANN board.

    How does ICANN justify banishing the public from its decision-making process? Stuart Lynn, president and CEO of ICANN, said the change was needed to make ICANN's process more "efficient." In a Washington Post online discussion, Lynn said: "The board decided that at this time [online elections] are too open to fraud and capture to be practical, and we have to look for other ways to represent the public interest. It was also not clear that enough people were really interested in voting in these elections to create a large enough body of voters that could be reflective of the public interest. This decision could always be reexamined in the future. In the meantime, we are encouraging other forms of at-large organizations to self-organize and create and encourage a body of individuals who could provide the user input and public interest input into the ICANN process."

    Former ICANN president Esther Dyson is also supporting the move away from public representation on the board. "I did believe that it was a good idea to have a globally elected executive board, [but] you can't have a global democracy without a globally informed electorate," Dyson told the Post. "What you really need [in order] to have effective end-user representation is to have them in the bowels (of the organization) rather than on the board."

    Auerbach isn't buying. "ICANN is pursuing various spin stories to pretend that they haven't abandoned the public interest," he says in this interview. "ICANN is trying to create a situation where individuals are not allowed in and the only organizations that are allowed in are those that hew to ICANN's party line."

  17. Where do those 8 bucks I pay to GoDaddy go? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Even thought I've done my googling I still cannot answer this simple question:

    Where do those 8 bucks I pay to GoDaddy go?

    I'm not whining about it, it's not big deal.

    In a world where you can have Cpanel hosting for just $0.99 a month http://www.siteflip.com/services/index.html
    I don't understand what expenses do they have to justify such a price to just change a name and IP in a database.

    Let us forget the $30 to Register.com

    1. Re:Where do those 8 bucks I pay to GoDaddy go? by Wesley+Felter · · Score: 1

      Last time I checked, $1 goes to GoDaddy (the registrar) and $7 goes to the registry (VeriSign for .com, Afilias for .org, etc.).

      You're right that it doesn't cost $7/year to maintain a domain name in a database. When .org was taken away from VeriSign, one of the bidders proposed to lower the cost of a .org domain to $2/year; of course they were shot down because such low pricing might upset the status quo.

    2. Re:Where do those 8 bucks I pay to GoDaddy go? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Verisign gets $6 per domain year. ICANN recently implimented a $.25 per domain year fee as well. So if you pay GD $8, they get $1.75 of that.

    3. Re:Where do those 8 bucks I pay to GoDaddy go? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It sounds more Mafia business than IT.

      What work does VeriSign do for gaining its shy on EVERY .com and .net domain?

      The point is always the same, $7 for keeping an IP on a database.

    4. Re:Where do those 8 bucks I pay to GoDaddy go? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It may not cost $7/yr to maintain a name in a database on a PC on someone's desktop.

      Doing it in a reliable manner is something else.

      And it's quite likely that, in much the same manner as the cellular industry, it may be more expensive to account for the activities than it is to handle the activities themselves.

      What people are missing is that this is all spin, and that pretty much any story that comes out about this will all be spin.

      The story quoted here seems to be the one that explains "Why DENIC is the necessary winner." One of the arguments in favor is that it would distribute management of Internet "glue" to continental Europe.

      There are others that spin assorted tales either in favor of or against other bidders. There have been a number spinning the tale that it would be an absolute disaster for control to leave America. Based on that sort of "It would be Unamerican!" argument, DENIC is the bidder guaranteed to lose.

      Other arguments are available for and against each of the bidders, and many will doubtless come up.

      It is uncertain at this point what factors will be the vital ones considered. THOSE are the issues that will determine the winner, not the assorted spins that get spun out in The Register.

    5. Re:Where do those 8 bucks I pay to GoDaddy go? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      It may not cost $7/yr to maintain a name in a database on a PC on someone's desktop. Doing it in a reliable manner is something else.

      Sure, the first 1, 10, or 100 domains may cost more than $7/yr to maintain reliably. However there's the economy of scale that you're missing.

      The right question is "can I reliably maintain a domain name with $1.06 Billion in revenue" (Verisigns). At that level the incremental cost of one more domain name is no more than the incremental cost of one more page being indexed by google.

  18. needless to say... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    $0.99/month is a loss leader account. Even with massive numbers of accounts at that price, I'm willing to bet they're losing money. In fact, that price probably doesn't even pay for bandwidth usage.
    Heck, even a $10/month account is pretty sketchy. I just don't see how web hosting companies are making any money at those prices.
    And don't forget, the more accounts they have, the more time (and staff) they need to handle support issues.
    So no, it doesn't cost $9/year to have one entry in a DB. But it does cost that much when you average in all the bandwidth and support and other overhead on a massive scale.
    Plus, the guys working there have to eat too, so it's gotta be a profitable venture.

  19. Verisign illustrates the problem... by Borderlinebass · · Score: 1

    The fact that Verisign is still allowed to bid for .net highlights the precise problem with capitalism; even when the company has shown itself to work against the public interest, Verisign's money is all that counts.

    And yet, this is just one of the smallest examples of capitalism's rule of profit over people. Heh.

    --
    Fight for something better: www.socialistalternative.org
  20. I already know more right now. by ahdeoz · · Score: 1

    It's Verisign.

  21. Race on for .NET? by vladd_rom · · Score: 1

    Am I the only one reading on Slashdot: "The Race Is On For .net" and thinking that Microsoft launched some sort of competition for their .NET platform? :-)

  22. Incorrect syntax! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Internet != WWW;

    does not compile, try something like

    WWW += Internet;

    or,

    foreach (Service in Avalible)
    {
    Service += Internet;
    }

  23. .Net to M$; .mac to Apple? by parvenu74 · · Score: 1

    Funny you should say that. I just bought my first Mac this weekend and have been exploring the .Mac service among other things. A thought that hit me: if/when the .mac TLD comes up for competition, how badly do you think Apple will want to control it?

    1. Re:.Net to M$; .mac to Apple? by CableModemSniper · · Score: 1

      Apple could make a .mac. Just have all mac's point to an additional DNS that resolves .mac addresses. Sure it would only work on apple computers, but so does OS X.

      --
      Why not fork?
  24. from the what-about-dot-p-e-t department by djfray · · Score: 1

    I like what a coworker of mine said better; .yet

    --
    This sig is o Unfunny o Funny
  25. Re: Registrars serve no useful purpose by burns210 · · Score: 1

    So where is the open source distributed DNS (DDNESSEC? good god!) project to look at? If it is doable, and it clearly would be ideal if achievable, where is the project to make it?

  26. Re: Registrars serve no useful purpose by Perky_Goth · · Score: 1

    http://www.opennic.unrated.net/