Clinton Administration Publishes Net Privatization Plan

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January 30, 1998 (6:47 AM EST)

Clinton Administration Publishes Net Privatization Plan

By Andrew Craig,

The U.S. government wants a private, nonprofit corporation to control the entire Internet domain name system, according to the Clinton administration's long-awaited "green paper" published Friday on the privatization of the Internet.

The new corporation would have the power to appoint up to five new independent organizations to administer domain names, known as registries, each of which would be entitled to administer just one new top-level domain, according to the green paper, which lays out the White House's proposals for reforming the antiquated Internet domain name administration system. Possible new top-level domains mentioned by the paper include .vend and .store.

The corporation would control the registration of Internet number blocks, have responsibility for an "authoritative root system," control the inclusion of new top-level domain names in the root system, and look after "other technical parameters" needed to connect the system to the Internet, the paper said.

The U.S. government would participate in "policy oversight to assure stability until the new corporation is established and stable," the paper said. The organization is expected to be fully operational by September 30, at the earliest, the paper said.

The green paper was prepared after several weeks of talks between President Clinton's Internet adviser, Ira Magaziner, and representatives of Internet and telecommunications organizations. The paper has been posted on the White House Website and invites the public to submit comments on the recommendations.

A board of representatives composed of 15 members would run the U.S.-based Internet domain names corporation. Two board members would be selected from the technical community, two from domain name registries, and three from international registries. Another seven would be selected from trademark holders and commercial Internet users. The organization would also have a CEO who would be selected from the business community.

As well as deciding how many new top-level domain names to introduce and who should administer them, the corporation would commission a study to monitor the success of new domain names. The study would also be used to monitor and review the performance of the newly appointed registries. In addition, the study would be used to identify cheap and efficient methods for resolving disputes over domain name ownership.

Network Solutions, the Herndon, Va., company that currently has the exclusive contract to issue the current top-level domains -- including .com, .net, and .org -- will lose its monopoly over registering new names with the popular .com suffix, the paper said. Network Solutions will have to allow other registrars to register new .com names by creating a shared database with other registering bodies. This will be completed by October, the paper said.