ICANN's VeriSign angle

Must ICANN decide your and my 'dot com' fate? Going by recent reports, it seems very likely. But before embarking on the issue, let's hark back a little. Some time back, at the second World Information Summit at Tunis (16-18 November, 2005), a widely-held apprehension surfaced rather unceremoniously. The issue was whether ICANN (Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), a non-profit entity operating from California, US that maintains and controls a master list of generic domains, should continue to hold sway like it has so long been doing. There indeed was strong opposition from third-world countries to let ICANN maintain its monopoly, especially with respect to the fact that ICANN is supposedly controlled by the US government's department of commerce. Ultimately though the issue lost steam mainly because there was no unanimity as to how a multi-lateral system would work, should ICANN's monopoly be shunned. In this backdrop, when it became known that ICANN is reportedly entering into agreement with VeriSign that virtually allows the latter a perpetual monopoly over the .COM registry, it came as a rude jolt to the internet community. Countless people allover are aghast at the turn of events and worried that their internet business (related to .COM domain) will henceforth be at VeriSign's mercy. Let's not forget that ICANN controls not only generic domains, but also country-specific suffixes like .in, .br, .jp and so on. That being so, what guarantee that ICANN won't pass on their control to any third party? Folks, it's tough time out there. If anyone is willing to join the issue, do click here. Let's remember this is not time to stay away when someone else's house is burning. Next time it may well be ours.