The chaos surrounding the future of regulation of Internet domain names has gotten a new injection of turbulence with the National Science Foundation's announcement that it does not intend to renew Network Solutions' contract to register US domain names. The pact expires next year.
The foundation's announcement on Wednesday - followed closely by Network Solutions' declaration that it will not give up its monopoly on signing up .com, .edu, .org, .net, and .gov names - is the latest skirmish in a multi-front international battle over who has the right to set domain-name rules, register them, and adjudicate disputes.
The International Ad Hoc Committee, an international body with powerful government and private support, intends to inaugurate an expansion of top-level domain names next week. New domains in the plan include .web, .rec, .arts, .info, .firm, .store, and .nom.
The committee, backed by the International Telecommunications Union, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and some of Europe's most powerful telecom companies, also wants to put registration for the new domains in the hands of more than two dozen companies.
The European Community this week said it was displeased with the scheme. Among other reasons, it cited the fact that the new domain names are based on English words. The EC also wants to use a lottery system to choose the new registrars.
In the United States, the independent AlterNIC registrar and other independents say they oppose the committee's plan. Network Solutions, which said Wednesday that it regards its registry as proprietary, says it supports competition only for the IAHC's proposed domains.
"It is not our intention to share .com or the other [domains] we register," Network Solutions spokesman Christopher Clough told The Washington Post. "Those would obviously [be] assets that we've developed ... much as Microsoft wouldn't share DOS."
The National Science Foundation hired Network Solutions in 1993. The firm charges US$100 for registering new domain names and $50 yearly maintenance fees. The foundation has estimated that the fees will bring in $200 million in 1999.
