Registrants urge ICANN to reverse decision letting Verisign retire third-level .name domains
in plain words
Verisign, which runs the .com system, wants to stop offering some older .name web addresses, such as firstname.lastname.name. ICANN, the group that oversees internet names, approved the request. Some people who have held these addresses for decades are asking ICANN to change its mind.
Full summary
Two more registrant The person or organization that holds a domain name registration. Full definition of registrant of third-level .name domains have filed reconsideration requests with ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers The nonprofit that coordinates the global DNS and gTLD policy. Full definition of ICANN over the past week. They ask the ICANN board to reverse its decision to allow Verisign The company that operates the .com and .net registries. Full definition of Verisign to eliminate their domain name A readable internet name made of labels separated by dots. Full definition of domain name.
Verisign, the registry operator The organization that holds the contract or mandate for a TLD and sets its rules. Full definition of registry operator for .com, also manages the .name namespace The set of all names in one naming system, such as the DNS. Full definition of namespace. Individuals have been able to register third-level .name domains, such as firstname.lastname.name, for decades. Verisign says it no longer wants to support these registration Obtaining the right to use a domain name for a set period. Full definition of registration, and ICANN approved its request to discontinue the service. Verisign cites limited registrar A company that registers domain names for customers with the registry. Full definition of registrar support and declining usage. About 22,000 third-level .name registrations exist, and Verisign says the “majority” are not in use.
The source describes the move as a small revenue matter for Verisign. It says the registrations make up a rounding error next to the money Verisign earns from .com. For people who have used these domains for decades, the source argues, losing them would be severe. Users may have built websites on them, used them for personal email, and linked them to many online accounts that would need new addresses.
The source gives one example. Neil Fraser registered neil.fraser.name nearly 25 years ago and uses it for his website, email and other services. He was told by his registrar that the domain would be terminated in February, although he had paid to renew it through 2040. The source also warns that if a second-level domain The name directly left of the TLD, such as example in example.com. Full definition of second-level domain under a deleted name becomes available, someone else could receive emails meant for the former user, which it calls a serious security risk.
The source notes that Verisign expects revenue of between $1.745 billion and $1.755 billion this year, with operating income of $1.185 billion to $1.195 billion. It argues that a company of that size could keep supporting a small number of legacy registrations. The source also points to ICANN’s responsibility for the security, stability and resilience of the domain name system, and asks how removing existing registrations serves that role.
The source suggests a compromise: Verisign would stop accepting new third-level .name registrations while keeping existing ones active. It argues that Verisign has its own reasons to reconsider, since its main business depends on its ongoing relationship with ICANN and the U.S. government. The source’s author, who says he agrees with the registrants, urges both organizations to reverse course.