From Demys- Domain name news service

Following a demand from ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) on 3 October, VeriSign, the .com and .net registry operator, has removed its much-criticised SiteFinder service.

SiteFinder changed the operation of the domain name system so as to direct requests for non-existent .com or .net domain names to VeriSign's own search engine. According to ICANN, which published an Advisory notice on 3 October, SiteFinder also had extensive unwanted effects including causing software which relied on negative responses, for example, in testing the existence of a domain name before sending email to it, to fail. One of the most significant non-technical complaints was the fact that SiteFinder's pages were in English, causing problems for other language speakers.

ICANN stated:-

...the changes to .com and .net implemented by VeriSign on 15 September have had a substantial adverse effect on the core operation of the DNS, on the stability of the Internet and the .com and .net top-level domains, and may have additional adverse effects in the future.

Further, VeriSign's actions are not consistent with its contractual obligations under the .com and .net registry agreements. The contractual inconsistencies include, violation of the Code of Conduct and equal access obligations agreed to by VeriSign, failure to comply with the obligation to act as a neutral registry service provider, failure to comply with the Registry-Registrar Protocol, failure to comply with domain registration limitations, and provision of an unauthorized Registry Service.

Accordingly, ICANN insisted that SiteFinder be suspended by 6pm US Pacific time on 4 October, failing which ICANN would take steps to enforce VeriSign's contractual obligations. VeriSign responded shortly afterwards that it did indeed propose to withdraw SiteFinder, notwithstanding the fact that it had refused to do so in previous correspondence until further data had been gathered as to the effectiveness of the operation.

In announcing the withdrawal, VeriSign's Russell Lewis, executive vice president of the company's Naming and Directory Services Group complained that ICANN had not allowed "so much as a hearing" before formally asking for suspension of SiteFinder. He went on to state that ICANN's objections related to "isolated and anecdotal issues", constituting an attempt to regulate "non-registry services".

This is an interesting comment from VeriSign as if SiteFinder is a non-registry service then it could potentially be regarded in some quarters as anti-competitive. There can only ever be one .com or .net registry. If the operator, with built-in dominance in the marketplace, uses the registry to provide revenue generating non-registry services this looks suspiciously like abuse of a dominant position.

So where does this leave VeriSign? In ICANN's Advisory some sympathy was expressed with VeriSign's concerns about the process for evaluation of proposed changes to the registry. Consequently, ICANN's CEO Paul Twomey has asked for a new procedure to be created. The process of developing this policy should be completed by the middle of next January.

Meanwhile many commentators will see this as yet another seminal moment in the development of Internet policy and governance as ICANN has finally proved it is able to enforce its authority when it believes that the stability of the Internet is affected by a registry operating under its contract.