Remember that article I posted about the Verisign monopoly deal? Well, it’s happening and the deal has been approved and is now before U.S. Department of Commerce. Here’s the update from GoDaddy, who is protesting the move for obvious business reasons, but you should definitely be aware of what’s happening:

Go Daddy opposes ICANN-VeriSign agreement

Yesterday, February 28, ICANN announced that its Board of Directors met and approved the pending deal with VeriSign for the .COM registry. The agreement will let VeriSign raise registration fees by 7% annually in four of the next six years. It will also give VeriSign control of the .COM registry indefinitely, as it extends VeriSign’s “presumptive renewal” right when this agreement ends in 2012.

The deal was approved by a majority vote, with nine voting in favor and five voting against. One director abstained. Vinton Cerf, who is the Chairman of ICANN and also now an employee of Google®, voted in favor of the give-away.

Following the vote, Credit Suisse increased the price target on VeriSign stock. Their analyst describes the .COM registry as VeriSign’s highest margin business (before any price increases). He goes on to say that the compounding effect of just the price increases could represent a net present value of $4 to $5 per share for VeriSign, or 1 to 1.25 billion dollars. The price increases will start in 2007.

Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons is voicing strong disapproval of this agreement. “The agreement is a bad deal for our customers and the Internet community as a whole,” said Parsons.

“The fact that this deal was approved is a loud signal that major changes are needed at ICANN. If we don’t step up and overhaul ICANN, and leave the Internet largely under the control of this incredibly inept organization, this will go a long way in providing the United Nations with the ammunition it needs to start taking control of the Internet – that must never happen.”

From here, before the deal becomes final, the U.S. Department of Commerce will still need to approve it. If you are disappointed with this recent decision, consider writing a letter to your Senator and Congressperson. You can find the email address of your representatives at the following two Websites:

For the Senate:
www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
For the House:
www.house.gov/writerep/

For more information about the agreement, please visit Bob Parsons’ blog – Hot Points! – at www.BobParsons.com.