Could VeriSign lose its .com monopoly?

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Verisign’s appeal today to overturn a previous ruling stating that the company cannot have a monopoly on the .com TLD. This stems from a lawsuit filed by the Coalition for ICANN Transparency (CFIT) against the firm for its no-bid contract with ICANN.

Currently VeriSign has a monopoly on .com and can set any price it wishes for the extension. It is more than likely going to appeal again in a higher court, but if this fails, other TLD operators will be able to sell .com domains to registrars. This extra competition could very well lower .com prices and increase service quality, something all domainers would love.

Photo | Flickr

VeriSign launches How Do You .com? contest

Verisign, operator of the .com gTLD has launched the How Do You .com? contest inviting .com owners to submit videos or essays about how the domain has changed their lives. What’s at stake here? Contestants have the chance to win one of ten iPads, $2500, $5,000 or $10,000.

The video must be under 2 minutes in length. Essays are limited to a paltry 300 words. This page
has a list of the most popular submissions so far. And of course, Verisign screens all entries for appropriateness, so you can’t make a video about your porn start-up.

Renew your domains before July 1 to avoid the VeriSign price hike

On July 1, gTLD operator VeriSign will increase the prices its charges registrars for .com domains by 7% and .net by 10%. Registrars will pass this cost onto customers, but not until July 1. Domainers have three days left (including today) to renew their domains and lock in the current price.

Only .com and .net names will be affected. Keep in mind that you can renew names at the current rate for up to 10 years. So assuming that your registrar raises its fee by $1.00 USD, you can save up to $10.00 by renewing in advance.

Actually, you could save quite a bit more because you would also be immune to price hikes for the duration of the registrations and most registrars provide discounts of up to 15% on long-term registrations.

Verisign raises domain prices, gets $27 million extra

Verisign has informed its registrars that the wholesale prices of .com and .net domains will be going up as of July 1st, so if you’re in the market to be purchasing a domain name, get ready to pay more. Verisign has stated that .com domains will increase by 7% and .net domains will increase by 10%.

We can only expect the registrars to pass these costs on to the market, possibly at higher rates again. Verisign can now increase domain prices by a rate of 7% each year, meaning it just added an extra $27 million to its takings.

Source | Gawkwire.com

Photo | Flickr

From AOL to YouTube: Verisign celebrates 25 years of .com and the internet

VeriSign has announced a “.com 25″ list of some of the most important websites, and their creators, the world has seen in 25 years of the internet. The honorees were selected by a panel of Silicon Valley elites and includes names such as Pierre Omidyar of eBay, who was also nominated in Time magazine’s 100 most influential people list for 2010.

The 25yearsof.com website states:

In the last 25 years, .com has transformed nearly everything in our worlds from the way we shop, connect with our communities, make weekend plans, engage with our government, educate our children and even how we think! So commonplace is .com, that we now take much of these daily life changes and its profound impact for granted. Yet none of this would be possible without the great minds, innovators and risk takers that made .com what it is today.

The 25 years of .com list is as follows:
Read More >>

Whew… VeriSign changes its mind about domain exchange service

Last month, our beloved VeriSign sent a request to ICANN requesting permission to launch a domain exchange service. The system would allow host-registrars to get a partial refund on the domains of canceled customers, essentially letting the company register names for as little as 30 days at a time.

Thankfully, VeriSign has withdrawn its request. It cited concerns from members of the Intellectual Property Constituency that the exchange would encourage domain tasting– the same concern we had.

The withdrawn proposal also didn’t mention if hosts would reimburse former customers after selling their domains. Either way, VeriSign’s plan sounded very sketchy.

Symantec agrees to buy part of Verisign

According to the New York Times, security firm Symantec is on the verge of closing a deal with VeriSign’s authentication services unit for $1.3 billion USD. The unit made up nearly have of VeriSign’s $1.03 billion sales revenue last year.

VeriSign wants to get out of the authentication business in order to focus on domains. It currently has a monopoly over the sale of .com and .net names. I guess it will make up for the profits lost in the sale by charging you and me more for domains.

Prices on .com and .net domains to increase

VeriSign, a company which provides .com and .net registration services to all registrars, has announced that it will increase .com prices by 7% and .net by 10%. Because the prices paid by registrars will go up, the added cost will be passed on to you and me.

The new prices will take effect July 1. Those looking to save money can renew their names early, however. It is possible to renew for multiple years and lock in the discount. So if you own a lot of .com domains, it would be better to renew them now and save 7% next year.

VeriSign makes proposal for domain exchange service

Domain giant VeriSign sent a request to ICANN this week seeking approval to launch a domain exchange service designed for registrars who bundle domains with hosting packages. As of right now, the company is only looking to do this on the .net TLD.

The proposed plan would let hosts “swap out” customers’ domains after 30 days in the event they canceled their hosting or did not pay up. This would save providers money because they must pay the full cost of a registration regardless of whether or not a customer stays a full year, but could cause a lot of problems. It would let registrars keep names for 30 days at a time at a prorated cost, essentially allowing the banned practice of domain tasting.

As far as I’m concerned, if hosts want to buy domains for their customers, let them suck up the loss if the client has cold feet. Domain registration has traditionally been a customer expense, not something the host should pay for. Approving VeriSign’s plan will do nothing to serve the needs of registrants and only benefit the already well-off registrars.

Photo | Flickr

Verisign to spend $300 million on tech upgrades

One of the most well-known Internet companies, Verisign is planning a major upgrade. After the upgrades, Verisign’s hardware will be capable of handling 4 quadrillion requests per day from computers trying to access .com and .net top-level domains (TLD) for which Verisign is responsible.

According to ken Silva, the Internet giant’s CTO, these upgrades are crucial to ensuring they can keep up with the rapidly increasing Internet traffic and the occasional spikes caused by malware, attacks, and malicious bots. In 2007, Verisign spent $100 million to increase their capacity until 2010. This next round of upgrades reflects the fast-growing nature of the Internet.

In addition to providing access to .com and .net domains, Verisign is also renown for selling SSL certificates. What is not clear from their announcement is what the upgrades will entail exactly and how long these latest upgrades will sustain the rapidly expanding cyber-universe.

Source: Associated Press