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Domain registrar moves ahead
By Janet Kornblum
January 15, 1998, 6:15 p.m. PT
A group trying to add seven new top-level domain names to the Internet
said today it is moving ahead with its plans to test its registry
system.
The Internet Council of Registrars (CORE), born out of the Policy
Oversight Committee (POC, also known as iPOC), said it plans to test
its system and introduce the new domain names on the Internet by
March.
But as with most issues in the domain name space, it is far from clear
who has the ultimate authority to flip the final switch that makes the
domains live for the Internet.
Today's announcement comes days shy of the widely anticipated release
of a government paper on domain name governance. President Clinton's
Internet policy adviser, Ira Magaziner, has spent the last several
months studying the complex issues of Internet governance and domain
ownership.
The results are expected in a Commerce Department paper that will be
released on the Internet by the end of the month, according to Becky
Burr, a spokeswoman for the department.
The paper, which sprang from a series of Commerce hearings held last
year, originally was due in November. But Burr said officials decided
to take extra time to study the issue. In addition, many people from
all sides of the issue have been contacted by Magaziner.
Who controls domain names is not merely an esoteric question. There
are millions of dollars at stake, as well as what some say is control
over the commercial Internet. Currently, Network Solutions holds the
government contract--administered by the National Science
Foundation--to register the most popular top-level domain names, such
as ".com," ".net," and ".org."
Along with the authority, Network Solutions gets registration fees of
$100 for two years for every top-level domain name registered.
But Network Solutions' contract to run the Internet registry expires
in September, and it is widely anticipated that at that point it will
face new competition.
Network Solutions has been trying to prepare for that inevitability.
So have members of CORE, who plan to introduce seven new top-level
domains: ".firm," ".info," ".nom," ".rec," ".shop," ".web," and
".arts."
Whether CORE will be able to do so is the subject of great debate.
Aside from the fact that two organizations claim ownership of two of
the names--".web" and ".arts"--the plan has been dogged by controversy
from those who say that CORE is assuming authority it does not
actually have.
CORE chairman Alan Hanson said today that the Internet Assigned
Numbers Authority (IANA) has the authority over accepting the domain
names.
But for the top-level domains to actually work, Network Solutions has
to physically add them to the "root zone," the main directory that
acts as the master telephone directory for the entire Internet.
The National Science Foundation also has instructed Network Solutions
to hold off from making any changes to the domain name system for now,
at least until the Commerce Department report is released.
While many have asked for authority to add domains, the government and
others are concerned that allowing anyone to add a domain could
literally plunge the Internet into a state of chaos.
Hanson noted the process is working by consensus, but others,
especially those who have set up alternative domain naming systems,
have accused the POC of holding on tightly to its reins of power.
Meanwhile, Hanson said he has had had "no indication from anyone in
the government" that CORE's plan would not go through. The idea is to
have multiple companies that can register the new domain names to
create competition both in pricing and service, he added
Stéphane GUERRY
Advisor Email sguerry@iddn.ch
INTERDEPOSIT http://www.iddn.org/
10 route de l'Aéroport - CP 41 Tel : 41 (0)22 788 63 83
CH 1215 GENEVA 15 Fax : 41 (0)22 788 63 90
SWITZERLAND
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