It looks like prices for .net domain registrations might drop under Verisign’s proposed new deal with ICANN. The proposal calls for a registry charge of $4.25 per domain name per year, including a $.75 ICANN tax. Currently, the fee charged to registrars by Verisign is $6. These savings might be passed on to the registrants. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this happens, and is ultimately passed on to .com domains as well.

Telcordia released its official report on which registry it thinks should managed the .net extension going forward (see “Nuetral Party to Evaluatate .Net Applicants by March 28″). Telcordia recommended that Verisign retain management of the domain name extension.

Personally, I have no problem with this decision. It’s important to remember that Verisign and Network Solutions are no longer the same companies. The only concern I have is Verisign trying to take advantage of their power (e.g. SiteFinder service).

The most important thing for registries is reliability. If the database of domains goes down, or domains get dropped without cause, the domain name world will come to a stop.

.Net is the 3rd most popular domain. Germany’s .de suffix and .com are more popular.

I came across a posting on SpyMac today about the itunes.co.uk domain. The title of the posting shows how little Apple fans understand about domain names. Many of the comments are about how Apple has been wronged and that Benjamin Cohen is a cybersquatter. Among the comments:

“The problem I have with this guy is that he claimed to never have heard of iTunes. So what? His ignorance of the fact that he was using a trademark does not make him free to continue to use it. “ – despite the fact that the trademark filing wasn’t public at the time of the registration? And that the service hadn’t even been launched in the USA when Cohen registered it?”

“Assuming he has no legitimate use for the domain name then I can’t see that he has a claim to it. “ – I don’t even need to mention what’s wrong with this statement!”

However, a number of posters understand the issues. Among the comments I agree with:

“I know it is hard to stay objective when it is cool Apple stuff we are talking about but this guy registered the site name before any UK iTunes was public knowledge. When Apple first released iTunes to the world as a free download, the domain http://www.itunes.co.uk was available. Apple just neglected to secure it, instead they only registered the .com domain.”

“Is it considered squatting to purchase a piece of land that you think may have a mall built next to it in 5 years? If so than there are a lot of property investors that are squatters. “

We’ll see what the UK’s High Court has to say in this matter. Personally, I think the arbitrator that decided in favor of Apple will get mud on his face.

Now here’s a case where someone uses a trademarked name to capitalize on a situation. Paul Pashibin registered the Internet domain name tcfbankstadium.com on the same day TCF announced a deal with the University of Minnesota for a $35 million stadium sponsorship. Although I blame The University and TCF Bank for not registering the domain name in advance, I think Paul will face an uphill battle if this one goes to arbitration.

The (current) owner of itunes.co.uk is appealing Nominet’s decision that forces him to hand the domain name over to Apple. And with good cause. As owner Benjamin Cohen said in a statement, “I must admit that we were not expecting the decision by Nominet’s appointed expert. Apple chose to launch the UK brand of “itunes” within the UK with the knowledge that we had owned the name for three years before their USA launch and four years before their launch within the UK.”

I’m personally willing to side with big companies in domain name disputes, especially in obvious cases (like registering FordMustang.com or the like). Unless we aren’t getting the entire story, however, the itunes.co.uk case is very different. Apple made a mistake, and they’re using the courts to wiggle their way out.