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VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) issued a filing late on Friday saying that its 32-year-old contract with the U.S. government can’t be terminated, despite claims to the contrary.
“If the [Department of Commerce] chooses to sunset the Cooperative Agreement, which VeriSign does not seek, the .com registry will continue to be managed pursuant to the terms of Verisign’s and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ valid, enforceable Registry Agreement, which ensures the continued security, stability, and resiliency of this key internet infrastructure in accordance with the global multistakeholder system of internet governance,” VeriSign wrote in the filing.
“The letters and the campaign are based on a fundamental misunderstanding and ignore the clear language of the Cooperative Agreement, the nature of cooperative agreements, the course of dealing between the Department, Verisign and ICANN, the role of ICANN as the central coordinator of the Domain Name System, long-standing US policy, as well as the express terms of the ICANN/Verisign .com Registry Agreement. Although the letters and the campaign contain other falsehoods and inaccuracies that may be addressed at a later date, their main point about the Cooperative Agreement is simply incorrect.”
Earlier this week, the American Economic Liberties Project and some of its allies sent letters to regulators and urged them not to renew a contract with VeriSign.
The group alleged that VeriSign’s monopoly is responsible for rising costs of the most coveted website domains. Instead, they asked the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Department of Justice to open up a fair bidding process, and implement a price cap.
The group claims that VeriSign had “made a habit of paying kickbacks” to ICANN, which resulted in a 70% price hike over the past two decades.