Agreement will provide business certainty for VeriSign and other registry operators; also extended the .com registry agreement through 2012.

VeriSign, Inc., a provider of intelligent infrastructure services for Internet and telecommunications networks, yesterday announced that it has reached an agreement to settle its lawsuit with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

VeriSign and ICANN reached an agreement providing business certainty for VeriSign and other registry operators while ensuring that ICANN can play an effective and clearly established role as technical coordinator. A component to strike that balance is a framework that establishes processes and guidelines for the introduction of new services, provides business certainty for top-level domain name registry operators and embraces a sensible market approach to registry pricing. VeriSign and ICANN also agreed to extend the .com registry agreement through 2012.

"An agreement could not have been reached without both sides trying to find compromise and new solutions," said Mark McLaughlin, Senior Vice President and General Manager of VeriSign's Naming and Directory Services business unit. "VeriSign's objective was to gain clarity and business certainty for Internet operators."