Extension will add six years to existing agreement.
ICANN has published a proposed extension to its contract with Verisign (NYSE:VRSN) for .com.
While the existing contract doesn’t expire until 2018, the parties are extending the agreement so that its end date matches that of the new Root Zone Management Agreement. The Root Zone Management Agreement (RZMA) is necessary due to the planned removal of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration role in the IANA contract.
The extension runs through 2024.
Verisign CEO Jim Bidzos explained on a conference call earlier this year that the company expected the RZMA to be for ten years, and thus the .com agreement would be extended to match that. Instead, the RZMA is for eight years, triggering a six-year extension of the .com contract (which was due to renew in 2018).
Practically speaking, this extension doesn’t change much. Verisign still has a presumptive right of renewal in the contract. The extension also doesn’t affect .com pricing. Pricing is handled in a different part of the cooperative agreement with the U.S. government.
Adam says
You can comment for 43 days that ICANN should put this up for bidding?
Andrew Allemann says
There’s nothing to be bid on. They have presumptive right of renewal and this is separate from their contract with the NTIA concerning how much they can charge.
John says
https://domainnamewire.com/2016/06/29/strickling-responds-rubio-et-al-iana-transition/#comment-2239570
Does the “transition” guarantee that .com could never be transferred to a non-US company despite the “presumptive right of renewal” you have been mentioned in today’s posts, given the vast vested interest of US business in .com that makes it virtually the de facto US country domain even?
Does it guarantee that .gov could never be anything but the exclusive domain of US government organizations? Does it prevent ICANN from suddenly changing that if it wants?
Does it guarantee that .mil could never be anything but the exclusive domain of the US military? Does it prevent ICANN from suddenly changing that if it wants?
Andrew Allemann says
Yes, if you read the docs you see the answer to your last two questions is yes, it’s guaranteed. As for Verisign, I think it could actually be a good thing if it were opened up to bid. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon.