"During the period we've been operating dot-net, we've run it at the
highest level," said Mark McLaughlin, the general manager of naming and
directory services for VeriSign. "By definition, changing [the] operator
would create the possibility for adding a great deal of instability to
the system."
VeriSign's bid has gotten a boost from high-tech firms like IBM, Sun
Microsystems and MCI, all of which cautioned Twomey to be extremely
cautious in choosing a new .net operator. Microsoft went a step further,
urging U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans to keep .net under
VeriSign's control. The Commerce Department must approve ICANN's choice
for a new operator before a switch is made.
Many of VeriSign's would-be competitors have accused the company of
using scare tactics, and say there is no evidence that moving .net would
endanger the traffic that flows through the domain.
"I don't think ICANN is hosting this bidding process for the purpose of
just leaving [.net with VeriSign]. I think VeriSign has a fair chance, I
think we have a fair chance and I think our potential competitors have a
fair chance," said Roland LaPlante, vice president of marketing for
Dublin-based Afilias.
Afilias runs ".info," a domain created by ICANN in 2000 that has grown to
become the world's sixth largest with 3.3 million addresses registered.
The company also manages some operations for .org, which ICANN awarded
to the Reston, Va.-based Public Interest Registry in January 2003.
The .org domain continued running smoothly through that transfer, which
Afilias presided over. LaPlante said it would be no different with .net.
Although ICANN's first consideration in choosing a new registry operator
will be whether the bidder has the needed technical chops, the group
will also consider other factors, including whether the bid would
bolster competition in the domain-name market and whether it would
increase the international reach of the .net domain, which has been
largely geared toward Americans.
To strengthen its international appeal, NeuStar has partnered with Japan
Registry Services Co., which operates Japan's sovereign ".jp" Internet
domain.
Also bidding for .net is Denic, the not-for-profit firm that operates
Germany's ".de" domain, the world's second largest behind .com.
