Register: ICANN .Net Bidding Was Stacked

After an in-depth review, the UK tech news site The Register is asserting that the rebidding of the .net registry was stacked in favor of VeriSign, the incumbent operator. The Register's Kieran McCarthy alleges that the judging criteria were manipulated to favor VeriSign's chances, while the selection of Telcordia as the "independent" evaluator also favored VeriSign, which has historic ties to Telcordia. The summary:

The bias for VeriSign written into the .net process by ICANN is remarkable. VeriSign and ICANN have been at loggerheads ever since ICANN's formation in 1998. VeriSign has consistently stymied ICANN attempts to open up the Internet market, and through a range of lawsuits has tied the organisation up fighting legal battles. We have always suspected that VeriSign's lawsuits would be used as a bargaining chip further down the line and maybe with the .net reallocation, that moment has come.

The difficulty is the lack of smoking gun. There are lots of issues that, when taken collectively, suggest a bias in favor of VeriSign. McCarthy does a good job weaving these together, but it would be surprising indeed if ICANN decided to postpone the closure of the .net deal with VeriSign to further examine the process.

  Posted by RichM May 3, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

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Register: ICANN .Net Bidding Was Stacked - May 03, 2005





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