DOJ and NTIA Should End VeriSign’s DNS ‘Monopoly,’ Advocates Say

DOJ and NTIA should end VeriSign’s contract for .com domain name registry services and kill its no-bid “monopoly,” which has led to rising registration costs, the American Economic Liberties Project and advocates wrote the agencies Wednesday. VeriSign’s government-designated, no-bid contract should end before the Aug. 2 automatic renewal date, AELP wrote in letters that Demand Progress Education Fund and Revolving Door Project signed. They requested the agencies open the contract to a “fair bidding process” and set a “price cap” for registration of .com and other top-level domains. The advocates said DOJ should withdraw from 2018 interagency guidance, which they claim allowed the Trump administration’s NTIA to “remove contractual protections against price-gouging.” The department should probe VeriSign’s “kickback” arrangement with ICANN for possible antitrust violations, the letter said. ICANN is a nongovernmental organization that accredits domain name registries and registrars. VeriSign must obtain consent from ICANN to increase its prices, and in 2022, the company offered a $20 million “cash bonus” to win approval from ICANN, the groups wrote DOJ. VeriSign hiked its price from $6 during the George W. Bush administration to $10.60 today, a 70% rise, they said. Citing public statistics, the groups claimed VeriSign has a “gross profit margin and operating margin of nearly 90 and 70 percent respectively.” The company’s free cash flow was estimated at $925 million in April, they said: “Billions of dollars that could be devoted to maintaining infrastructure, improving service, or accommodating more affordable pricing structures are instead diverted to other ends.” They noted the company spent about 6% of revenue on research and development in 2023. The letter noted that when registration for .net domain names was opened to competitive bidding in 2011, the price for registration dropped from $6 to $3.50. NTIA, DOJ, VeriSign and ICANN didn’t comment Thursday.