Subject: Fwd: ICANN asks Verisign to shutdown SiteFinder in 48 hours

From: Yakov Shafranovich <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2003 12:14:27 -0400

Forwarded from the ASRG list:

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 0. General - ICANN asks Verisign to shut down SiteFinder in 48
hours
Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2003 11:31:58 -0400
From: Yakov Shafranovich <[email-masked]>
Organization: SolidMatrix Technologies, Inc.
To: ASRG list <[email-masked]>

ICANN has posted the following announcement to their website, asking
Verisign to stop the SiteFinder service within 48 hours:

http://www.icann.org/announcements/advisory-03oct03.htm

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003 10:29:33 -0700 (PDT)

> http://www.icann.org/announcements/advisory-03oct03.htm

Its finally over (for the now...):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40241-2003Oct3.html

VeriSign Freezes Search Service 
 
VeriSign Inc., the firm that operates a key piece of the Internet's 
address system, said it would temporarily shut down a new service that 
makes money off the typos of Web users after the Internet's oversight body 
threatened to take legal action against the company

Earlier today, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 
President Paul Twomey sent a letter to VeriSign demanding that the company 
take the service down or face legal consequences. Under its contracts with 
VeriSign ICANN can impose up to $100,000 in fines or strip the company of 
its authority to operate the registries that handle dot-com and dot-net 
Internet addresses.
 
"Without so much as a hearing, ICANN today formally asked us to shut down
the Site Finder service," said VeriSign spokesman Tom Galvin. "We will
accede to their request while we explore all of our options."
...
VeriSign also angered the close-knit group of engineers and scientists who 
are familiar with the technology underpinning the Internet. They say that 
Site Finder undermines the worldwide Domain Name System, causing e-mail 
systems, spam-blocking technology ano other applications to malfunction.

VeriSign said the claims are overblown.

"There is no data to indicate the core operation of the domain name system 
or the stability of the Internet has been adversely affected," VeriSign's 
Galvin said. "ICANN is using anecdotal and isolated issues in an attempt 
to assert a dubious right to regulate non-registry services."

Before agreeing to take down Site Finder, VeriSign had promised to work 
with the Internet community to iron out any glitches triggered by Site 
Finder.

Site Finder has triggered the first real showdown between VeriSign -- the 
world's largest Internet addressing company -- and ICANN, the group 
created by the U.S. government to bring order and competition to the 
growing online world.

"War is breaking out between the regulators and the people they regulate. 
This is a real power struggle [over] who controls the rules on the 
Internet going forward," said said Paxfire's Lewyn.

---

From: Dean Anderson <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003 17:12:02 -0400 (EDT)

I see that Verisign is complying while they "review their options".

Well, hopefully they are having their lawyers go over their contracts to
see if ICANN can claim it is in breach of any contract.  It would seem
that they can't, having not complained about other registries, and having
not substantiated any adverse effects to the internet.  It will take some
time to go through each claim and offer a substantial proof that it is
wrong.  It will be interesting to see what the lawyers say.

It was really to bad that they gave the "angry scientists and engineers"
as much credit as they did. This angry group is basically the same bunch
of Verisign bashers that have been whining about Verisign or Network
Solutions for many years, when there are other registries that are much
more deserving of criticism.  Calling them scientists and engineers gives
too much credit because real scientists and engineers deal in facts. I
would use another term.

I for one hope that SiteFinder will come back, and I wish Verisign good
luck.

		--Dean