For Immediate Release
Tuesday, November 9, 1999

G 99-199
Contact: Morrie Goodman
202/482-4883
Chuck Melley
202/219-4287

DOMAIN NAME MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT FINALIZED

U.S. SECRETARY OF COMMERCE WILLIAM M.DALEY APPLAUDS ADOPTION OF AGREEMENTS ON DOMAIN NAME MANAGEMENT BY BOARD OF ICANN

Washington, DC -- Following the vote today by the Board of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to adopt and sign the final agreements on technical management of the domain name system, U.S. Secretary of Commerce William M. Daley issued the following statement:

"The Board of Directors of ICANN is to be congratulated for taking this essential step to achieve our shared goal of private sector management of the domain name system. The public process that ICANN managed, since the agreements were announced in September, has ensured that all stakeholders have had a chance to participate and reflects the strong consensus that our negotiations over the last year produced a sound result."

Secretary Daley announced on September 28, 1999, that the Department of Commerce, ICANN, and Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI) had reached a series of agreements that allow transition of the domain name system to the private sector to move forward. Taken together, the agreements resolve the outstanding differences between the parties that have been under discussion for nearly a year. The Department of Commerce and NSI had endorsed the agreements on September 28, and the ICANN Board had also endorsed the agreements subject to its consideration of public comments received over the last thirty days.

President Clinton, on July 1, 1997, as part of the Administration's Framework for Global Electronic Commerce, directed the Secretary of Commerce to privatize management of the Internet name and address system in a manner that increases competition and facilitates global participation while preserving the stability of the Internet. The Department of Commerce issued a White Paper, on June 5, 1998, that called on the private sector to establish a not-for-profit corporation to manage certain aspects of the domain name system. In October of 1998, NSI agreed to develop the Shared Registration System, which allows multiple licensed accredited registrars to provide domain name registration services in the .com, .net, and .org domains. The Department of Commerce recognized ICANN as the new, not-for-profit corporation to manage the domain name system on November 25, 1998.

The final agreements will be signed by the relevant officials of the Department of Commerce, ICANN, and NSI next week in Washington.

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