Urges U.S. Commerce Secretary to reject .com registry agreement.

GoDaddy.com, an ICANN accredited registrar, is petitioning the U.S. Department of Commerce to deny final approval of the controversial .com registry agreement with VeriSign.

Go Daddy and other top registrars, representing a majority of .com registrars, want the deal sent back to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to be reworked in a way that is fair and equitable.

ICANN has been working to settle a lawsuit with VeriSign, which manages .com and .net domain name extensions. The proposed settlement agreement would allow VeriSign to raise registration fees by 7% annually in four of the next six years without cost-based justification. It also would give VeriSign control of the .com registry indefinitely, as it extends VeriSign's 'presumptive renewal' right when the proposed settlement agreement expires in 2012. The new .com registry agreement still requires approval from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC).

"We will not sit back without a fight. This deal is outrageous. It's monopolistic because it locks in price hikes and eliminates good old-fashion competition. It's a mistake Secretary (Carlos) Gutierrez can stop," said Bob Parsons, CEO and Founder, GoDaddy.com. "This deal would give VeriSign a monopoly in the .COM registry - the source of its highest profit margin. The .COM price should be going down, not up. The fact ICANN ignored an avalanche of negative comments on this proposed agreement says it all."

In a letter sent to DOC Secretary Gutierrez last Friday, GoDaddy.com detailed why the agreement should be rejected and returned to ICANN. Among other assertions, the letter states the strengthened presumptive renewal stipulation makes 'absolutely no sense for the community, or stability and security as a whole'. In addition to urging Secretary Gutierrez to reject the agreement, GoDaddy.com has joined a number of other registrars in signing a joint letter to the DOC and filing a Motion for Reconsideration.