WLS

WLS (Waiting List Service) was a proposed service provided by registrars to give potential registrants or subscribers the opportunity to reserve their desired domain names that are currently registered for one year. Under this service a registrant may purchase a one year subscription for a particular domain name under a registrar which will directly perform the transaction with Verisign GRS. A domain name being subscribed under the Waiting List Service will only be registered to the subscriber in the event that the owner of the domain name undertook normal operational processes of registration deletion. For example, the present registrant submitted a request for the deletion of his or her domain name with the registrar.

Background

Verisign proposed the Waiting List Service as a new registry offering to domain name subscribers to ICANN on March 21, 2002. In addition, the company also requested the body to change its .com & .net registry agreement to include WLS with a $35 subscription fee.

WLS Objections

Karl Auerbach, then At-large Representative of North America to the ICANN Board of Directors, believed that the WLS provided an unfair advantage to Verisign. He pointed out that, "The people who are affected by this, the registrars, don't have a voice in ICANN, and I think it's unfair that we keep changing the contract these people have with VeriSign, without having any role or participation in making those changes." Furthermore, he raised concerns over the issue that the identity of the interested buyer is unknown to the current owner of the domain name. He emphasized that this might cause damage to the reputation of the original owner of the domain name.

WLS Negotiations

On March 2002, during the ICANN Meeting in Bucharest, Verisign presented its revised proposal to the ICANN Board regarding implementation of its Waiting List Service. Under its new proposal, Verisign informed the Board that it included all the concerns and recommendations submitted by registrars to the Domain Name Supporting Organization. Verisign's revised proposal ignited contradicting reactions from the internet community. Some expressed their strong oppositions while others supported the WLS proposal. To resolve the issue,the ICANN Board adopted Resolution 02.100 on August 23, 2002 delegating it's president Paul Twomey and general counsel John O. Jeffrey to negotiate and make proper amendments to .com and .net Registry Agreement between ICANN and Verisign to be able to offer the proposed WLS under certain conditions:

1. A redemption grace period for 6 months for all deleted domain names to give opportunity to the domain owners who unconsciously let their domain name expired to retrieve it.
2. The WLS will be implemented on test run for one year.
3. There should be no preference or exclusion due to any registrar reservation service.
4. Current domain owners should receive notification that there is an interested buyer for his or her domain name, however the identity of the buyer will not be disclosed.
5. Registrars won't be able to include the domain name on the WLS more than 60 days from expiration.
6. Data from the WLS trial period should be collected to determine its relevance.

On October 16, 2003, Verisign asked ICANN Board to reconsider its conditions under Resolution 02.100 and subsequently on January 26, 2004 ICANN General Counsel John O. Jeffrey provided Verisign with the Conclusion of Negotiations regarding ICANN's conditions on the WLS proposal. A special provision required the approval of the Department of Commerce on the amendments that will be made to the .com, .net and .org registry agreement between ICANN and Verisign on May 25, 2001 to be able to give Verisign the permission to offer the Waiting List Service.

Verisign refused to make appropriate and necessary amendment to its .net agreement with ICANN and to secure an approval from the Department of Commerce.

Legal Charges Against ICANN

Domain Justice Coalition Vs. ICANN

In 2003, the Domain Justice Coalition, comprised of 23 domain name registration companies, filed a law suit against ICANN due to its agreement with Verisign regarding the WLS. The Coalition argued that the Board's approval of the WLS eliminated competition between registrars and it gave an unfair advantage to Network Solutions, Verisign's domain name registration subsidiary. According o them ICANN breached its terms of agreement with the registrars. The coalition filed a temporary injunction for the implementation of the WLS which was led by Dotster, Inc., GoDaddy Software, Inc., and eNom Inc. to the California District Court.

Then ICANN Spokesperson, Mary Hewitt, explained ICANN's position; she said, "The board voted for it because they thought it was a boon to consumers. This eliminates a ton of people pinging to see if the name is available at once. [As a consumer,] instead of me paying three different people to try to get a domain name I may not get, [with the WLS (wait listing service)], if I don't get it, I don't pay any money".

In November, 2003, the California District Court denied the group's request for a temporary restraining order against ICANN's approval for Verisign to implement the Waiting List Service. By December, Network Solutions, Register.com and BulkRegister expressed their enthusiasm to then ICANN President Paul Twomey to launch the WLS after the California District Court's denial on the temporary restraining order filed against the body. In addition, the companies also commented that the black out period for WLS is unnecessary and they emphasized that an adequate and enforceable safeguard is already present in the RAA.

Newman & Newman Vs. Verisign & ICANN

In 2004, another law suit was filed by Newman & Newman, a law firm which represented Register.com and several other registrars against ICANN and Verisign to stop the implementation of the WLS. The group accused ICANN and Verisign of:

1. Unfair Trade Practices Act Violations
2. Violation of California Business & Professions Code
3. Unlawful Tying Arrangement
4. Attempted Monopolization
5. Violation of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
6. Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage
7. Breach of Contract
8. Declaratory Relief

On November 16, 2004, Judge Gerald Rosenberg ruled that the Superior Court of California is not the proper venue to legally decide the case filed by Register.com against ICANN and Verisign regarding the issue of WLS. The court decided to dismiss or alternatively, stay the First, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eight causes of action against Verisign on the basis of forum non conveniens. The court pointed that the state of Virginia is the proper venue for the complaint.