> From: Jeffrey Kay
> Date: Tue Sep 23, 2003 7:20:55 AM US/Pacific
> To: FoRK
> Subject: Verisign’s Domain Redirects
>
> Seems like DNS is in trouble yet again. This is a pretty interesting
> issue.
> One could argue that managing a root gTLD server is a public trust and
> Verisign is violating that trust.
>
> — jeff
>
> VeriSign stands firm on domain redirect
> Last modified: September 22, 2003, 6:07 PM PDT
> By Declan McCullagh
> Staff Writer, CNET News.com
>       
>
> VeriSign said Monday that it would not abandon its decision to point
> unassigned domain names at its Web site, but representatives did say
> the
> company would form a technical committee later this week to look into
> the
> problems caused by the change.
>
> During the last week, criticism has steadily grown over VeriSign’s ”
> SiteFinder ” service, which has caused problems for network
> administrators
> and confused spam-blocking utilities. A number of Internet standards
> bodies
> and administrative groups have asked the Mountain View, Calif.-based
> company–which enjoys a government-granted monopoly over the .com and
> .net
> registry–to stop, and a second lawsuit seeking an injunction against
> the
> practice was filed Monday.
>
> On Monday, VeriSign spokesman Tom Galvin said SiteFinder would remain
> in
> place because “we think the technical review committee is the
> appropriate
> mechanism before making any long-term decisions about the service.” The
> committee members who will be chosen by VeriSign and will report to the
> company will be announced later this week, Galvin said.
>
> “All indications are that users, important members of the Internet
> community
> we all serve, are benefiting from the improved Web navigation offered
> by
> Site Finder,” VeriSign Vice President Russell Lewis said in a Sunday
> letter
> to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
> “These
> results are consistent with the findings from the extensive research we
> performed.”
>
> ICANN is the nonprofit organization that oversees Internet domain
> names. On
> Friday, the group asked VeriSign to pull the plug on its “wildcard”
> redirection service.
>
> Since then, ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee has
> published
> a more-detailed critique of the technical problems caused by VeriSign’s
> move. The committee–which includes a VeriSign representative–said it
> would
> hold a public meeting in the Washington, D.C., area on Oct. 7 and has
> asked
> for feedback to be sent to secsac-comments [at] icann [dot] org.
>
> “VeriSign’s change appears to have considerably weakened the stability
> of
> the Internet, introduced ambiguous and inaccurate responses in the
> (Domain
> Name System), and has caused an escalating chain reaction of measures
> and
> countermeasures that contribute to further instability,” the
> committee’s
> critique said. “VeriSign’s change has substantially interfered with
> some
> number of existing services which depend on the accurate, stable, and
> reliable operation of the domain name system.”
>
> VeriSign’s new policy is intended to generate more advertising revenue
> from
> additional visitors to its network of Web sites. But the change has
> had the
> side effect of rewiring a portion of the Internet that software
> designers
> always had expected to behave a certain way. That can snarl antispam
> mechanisms that check to see if the sender’s domain exists, complicate
> the
> analysis of network problems and possibly even pollute search engine
> results. Because VeriSign will become a central destination for
> mistyped
> e-mail and Web traffic, its move also raises serious privacy questions.
>
> On Monday, domain name registrar Go Daddy Software filed a lawsuit in
> federal district court in Arizona seeking to halt the SiteFinder
> redirection. “VeriSign has hijacked this entire process,” Bob Parsons,
> president of Go Daddy, said in a statement. “When the user is sent to
> VeriSign’s advertising page, VeriSign gets paid by the advertiser when
> the
> user clicks a link to get off the page, to the tune of $150 million
> annually, as estimated by VeriSign.”
>
> It appears to be the second lawsuit filed in response to VeriSign’s
> move.
> Popular Enterprises, the parent company of search provider
> Netster.com, sued
> VeriSign over the SiteFinder redirection last week, alleging antitrust
> violations, unfair competition and violations of the Deceptive and
> Unfair
> Trade Practices Act.
>
> Also in response to VeriSign’s move, the well-respected Internet
> Architecture Board published on Saturday a document titled
> “Architectural
> Concerns on the use of DNS Wildcards,” referring to the domain name
> system.
> It says the danger of “wildcard records is that they interact poorly
> with
> any use of the DNS that depends on ‘no such name’ responses.”
>
> jeffrey kay
> weblog pgp key aim
> share files with me — get shinkuro —
>
> “first get your facts, then you can distort them at your leisure” —
> mark
> twain
> “if the person in the next lane at the stoplight rolls up the window
> and
> locks the door, support their view of life by snarling at them” — a
> biker’s
> guide to life
> “if A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y plus Z. X
> is
> work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut.” — albert einstein
>
>
>

But the launch itself isn’t without controversy. Arguably, the new domain name system in place for .BIZ and .INFO doesn¹t do much to alleviate the Trademark and public access concerns. And in releasing new TLDs in a trickle they’re only further increasing the value of having a dot com domain name.

Eric: Did you trademark “My”? You should go after my.biz … Potentially a big competitor to my.com on the resale market. 🙂

-Ian.

——- http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010515/tc/internet_new_domains_1.html

Tuesday May 15 2:56 PM ET New Internet Domain Names

By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer

NEW YORK (AP) – Trademark holders will be able to stake claims to ”.biz” Internet addresses beginning Monday and to ”.info” names next month.

The general public will have to wait until summer.

Names with the ”.info” suffix will be operational as early as August, while ”.biz” sites will be reachable on Oct. 1.

The schedule was announced Tuesday as operators of the two new top-level domains completed contracts with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the organization selected by the U.S. government in 1998 to oversee Internet addressing.

Of the new names, only ”.info” will be open to any individual, group or company. Operators of ”.biz” will accept bids only from businesses, although they won’t ask for any proof.

ICANN is still finalizing terms for the five other new suffixes it selected last November: ”.name” for individuals, ”.pro” for professionals, ”.aero” for aviation, ”.coop” for business cooperatives and ”.museum” for museums.

The seven new names could help alleviate the crunch for names ending in ”.com.” Adding new top-level domains is akin to creating new area codes as phone numbers run out.

It’s unclear, though, whether Internet users familiar primarily with ”.com” will embrace the new names, the first addressing expansion since the 1980s.

Operators of ”.biz” and ”.info” plan campaigns touting their suffixes as global alternatives to a U.S.-centric ”.com.”

Afilias Ltd., the Ireland-based company created to operate ”.info,” will begin a “sunrise period” in late June. For 30 days, trademark holders will be able to seek ”.info” names. If multiple companies apply, Afilias will choose one at random.

In late July or early August, Afilias will open registrations to the rest of the Net community. Afilias will process that round of names at random before switching to the traditional first-come, first-served system.

Names will become operational a week after open registration begins.

NeuLevel Inc., the Sterling, Va., company that will run ”.biz,” will begin its trademark service on Monday. For a fee, trademark holders can submit claims before registration begins. But they won’t be able to obtain names right away. Instead, they will be notified if someone else beats them to a name, so that they can challenge it.

Multiple companies – such as Apple Computers and Apple Bank – could claim the same trademark, and NeuLevel will refer any disputes to arbitrators.

A “land rush” period will take place June 25 to Sept. 25, during which NeuLevel will accept multiple applications for the same names and choose one at random. Any names in dispute over a trademark will be placed on hold.

NeuLevel’s ”.biz” names could clash with a very small percentage of Internet users who support an unofficial directory system that also includes ”.biz.” NeuLevel’s chief executive, Doug Armentrout, dismissed the alternative systems as “illegitimate.”