VeriSign reports earnings and domain growth.
VeriSign, which manages the registry for .com and .net domain names, reported a profitable third quarter. The company earned $53.6 million in the quarter, compared to a loss of $201.1 million in the same quarter in 2008.
VeriSign has divested a number of businesses lately, and is focusing on its core businesses, which includes domain registry. At the end of the quarter VeriSign had 94.9 million domains registered in the domain base for .com and .net, which is most of the company’s registry business.
The company has what amounts to a monopoly on .com and .net domain registrations, although a lawsuit challenging that monopoly is working its way through the courts.
VeriSign opted not to raise rates on .com and .net domain names this year. This is the first year in its current contract with ICANN that it has not levied the maximum increase of 7% on .com and 10% on .net. This is likely due to political pressures more than the stagnating economy.
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