March 24, 2006 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- This week's Web host industry news included some significant developments in some of the business's biggest ongoing stories, as well as some major platform wins by Microsoft.
Publicly-owned Web hosting company Interland announced on Monday that it had officially completed the change of its name to Web.com. The company said it would continue trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange, now under the updated ticker symbol “WWWW.” Interland acquired the Web.com brand, and its hosting business, in November of 2005 for $4.4 million.
While the Web.com rebranding came to a conclusion this week, the ongoing story of growing opposition to the .com agreement between ICANN and VeriSign continued to build.
On Monday, the Coalition for ICANN Transparency announced that it had filed an amended complaint in the US District Court in San Jose. The group is a movement by domain registrars upset earlier this month by a settlement that would give VeriSign control of the .com registry through 2012 and allow a yearly cost increase of 7 percent.
On Friday, the group announced that opposition to the deal was gaining steam in Washington, as Florida congressman Robert Wexler had submitted a letter calling for the House Judiciary Committee to formally investigate the settlement between ICANN and VeriSign, looking out for anti-business and anti-competitive implications.
Microsoft made a major advance with its Web hosting platform this week, announcing that Go Daddy, identified as the world's largest Web host in February by Netcraft, had moved to a Windows platform.
On Tuesday, Microsoft said Go Daddy had moved its approximately 4.5 million domains from a Linux platform to the Microsoft Solution for Windows-based Hosting. Go Daddy says the move enables the company to maximize its technology assets, helping the company to provide its assets at the lowest possible price.
On Monday, Web hosting provider VIA USA announced that it had gained Gold Certified status in the Microsoft Partner Program, with competencies in networking infrastructure solutions and advanced infrastructure tools. VIA says the certification was achieved through demonstrating its expertise in Microsoft technologies and proven ability to meet customer needs.
And on Thursday, Web hosting provider 1&1 Internet announced it, too, had attained Gold Certified status in the Microsoft Partner Program based on its competency in advance infrastructure in Web hosting, Sharepoint and Exchange solutions. 1&1 says the status will enable the company to introduce new software and technologies before they become available to competitors.
While this week's news saw the conclusion to one story in the completion of the Web.com name change, it also saw the continuing development of the ICANN and VeriSign story, which promises to develop further in weeks to come, and the promise of a major product release next week by SWsoft.
