Members of the press should contact: Mary Hanley
(202) 482-7002, mhanley@ntia.doc.gov

Washington, D.C. - The Department of Commerce and Network Solutions agreed today to extend the test bed phase of the development of the Shared Registration System until August 6.

The Shared Registration System, which will allow multiple licensed accredited registrars to provide domain name registration services in the .com, .net, and .org domains, was developed by Network Solutions pursuant to a Cooperative Agreement with the United States Government. Amendment 11 of the Cooperative Agreement established a test bed phase for the development of the System during which five accredited registrars are testing the functionality and performance of the System.

The test bed period was originally scheduled to be completed on June 26, but was extended by the Department of Commerce and Network Solutions until July 16 to permit further system testing. Today=s agreement to extend the test bed until August 6 is needed to ensure that the functions of System have been adequately tested in a multi-registrar environment.

After the completion of the test bed phase, the Shared Registration System will be opened to accredited registrars. The Department of Commerce expects the introduction of robust competition in domain name registration services to result in greater consumer choice, better services and lower prices.

On April 21, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced the names of the five companies selected to be accredited for participation in the test bed phase. Those companies are America Online, the Internet Council of Registrars (CORE), France Telecom (Oleane), Melbourne IT, and Register.com. ICANN has also qualified over 50 companies from around the world for accreditation as post-test bed registrars. ICANN is the California-based, not-for-profit corporation with a Board of Directors from around the world, developed by the Internet community to undertake management of the Internet domain name system functions now performed by, or under agreement with, the United States Government. Under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Commerce, ICANN is responsible for the accreditation of registrars in the .com, .net, and .org domains.

Information on ICANN and the registrar accreditation process can be found at http://www.icann.org

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration serves as the principal adviser to the President, Vice President, and Secretary of Commerce on domestic and international communications and information issues and represents the Executive Branch before Congress, other Federal agencies, foreign governments and international organizations. Information regarding NTIA and NTIA activities can be found at http://www.ntia.doc.gov

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