On February 28, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) accepted VeriSign’s proposition that would allow them to raise the .com registration fee in four of the next six years, and to enjoy a preferred administrative right for the .com top-level domain (TLD) once its contract with ICANN expires in 2012. �

In return for such partiality, VeriSign has agreed to spend $200 million in improving the internet’s “infrastructure”. �

Immediately after the decision, two formal requests for consideration were brought to the committee that manages ICANN.� One was filed by 19 domain registrars who argued that they would suffer financially from the increased cost allowed by the settlement and the other was brought an individual citizen who challenged VeriSign’s purported right to “datamine” the information available to it via the .com registry for profit.� �

Both arguments were found to be groundless and denied by the committee, which happens to made up of ICANN members.� Critics of the decision have argued that ICANN is responsible to no one and there is no organization that can check the committee.� The decision, however, must ultimately be approved by the US Department of Commerce.

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Originally reported by Sedo.