Assigned Names and Numbers (icann.org) (ICANN) because it believes decisions made by the technical coordination body have prevented its efforts to offer new, moneymaking services.
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VeriSign claims that ICANN has improperly attempted to become the “de facto regulator of the domain name system and, in doing so, stifled the introduction of new services that benefit Internet users and promote the growth of the Internet.”
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Through the lawsuit, which does not state how much money VeriSign is seeking, VeriSign hopes to clearly define the process for introducing new Internet-related services, so that other companies can decide whether to invest more money in the Internet.
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VeriSign further accuses ICANN of taking too long to make decisions and of being inconsistent when it does ? a familiar complaint from ICANN critics. VeriSign has also been the subject of criticsm for allegedly abusing its power by offering services favorable to its bottom line. It was recently named the “Internet Villian of the Year” by the ISPA UK awards “for their presumption that they own the internet and the domain name system hijacking scandal.”
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The outcome of the suit, filed in Los Angeles, will have broad implications on whether it is financial or public interest that drives decisions on how people use the Internet.
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ICANN, is the US government-appointed organization that handles domain names and other Internet addressing policies, while VeriSign controls the computers that contain the master list of domain name suffixes. It also runs directories for the two most popular suffixes, “.com” and “.net.”
