Dotster wants an injunction to stop Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approving changes to VeriSign’s .com and .net registry contracts that would allow it to launch WLS, which Dotster says is anticompetitive and will force it to discontinue one of its services.
The case judge asked ICANN if it would consider delaying approval of the required contract changes and Dotster expects ICANN to comply with the request.
This could be a temporary spanner in the works at VeriSign, which had hoped to launch the service this month. Its soon-to-be-former subsidiary, Network Solutions Inc, is already accepting WLS pre-registrations at NextRegistrationRights.com.
WLS allows people to sign up to get first refusal on domain names that have already been registered, should those registrations expire in future. Users would pay an annual subscription, on the off chance the domain becomes available.
VeriSign says WLS creates more certainty and consumer choice in the marketplace. Dotster and others say this would create an unavoidable VeriSign monopoly that will make their current business models technologically obsolete.
The judge has set a rough trial date of December 16. ICANN has been asked to respond about delaying its VeriSign contract decision until then. If it declines, the judge will rule on the preliminary injunction in the next week.
This article was based on material originally published by ComputerWire.
