Here's more info... --Declan ---------- Forwarded message ---------- X-Sender: declan@mail.pathfinder.com X-FC-URL: Fight-Censorship is at http://www.eff.org/~declan/fc/ X-FC-URL: To join send "subscribe" to fight-censorship-request@vorlon.mit.edu Date: Sun, 6 Jul 1997 19:57:32 -0400 From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> Sender: owner-fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu To: fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu Subject: Justice Department starts Network Solns antitrust probe Internet-Address Assigner in Va. Is Focus of Justice Department Antitrust Probe By Rajiv Chandrasekaran Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, July 6, 1997; Page A13 The Washington Post The Justice Department has begun investigating whether the process of assigning Internet addresses in the United States, a process almost entirely controlled by Herndon-based Network Solutions Inc., violates antitrust laws. Network Solutions said it received a request for documents and information relating to its Internet address registration business from the Justice Department's antitrust division on June 27, according to a document the company filed last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Justice Department also is seeking information from Science Applications International Corp., Network Solutions' parent company, the document said. Network Solutions is the only company in the world authorized to assign some of the Internet's most widely used "domains," or addresses, specifically those that end in ".com," ".edu," ".net" and ".org." Critics have complained that Network Solutions, which charges $100 to assign a domain, has an unfair monopoly that has led to a high registration price and poor service. The Justice Department's request is a standard preliminary step in antitrust investigations. But the government has rarely looked into the governing processes of the Internet, the global computer network that has become a vital communication medium for millions of businesses and individuals worldwide. Registering a domain is a necessary step for any person or business that wants a unique address, such as disney.com or cocacola.com. The registered domains serve as a sort of Zip code for the Internet, allowing users to send electronic mail and locate pages on the graphical World Wide Web. Gabriel A. Battista, Network Solutions' chief executive, said yesterday the company intends to fulfill the request. "We've received the notification and we will comply with whatever they ask for," Battista said. Battista declined to comment further, citing the "quiet period" the SEC requires of executives when their company's stock is being offered to the public for the first time. Network Solutions on Thursday notified the SEC, in the same document that disclosed the antitrust investigation, that it is planning a stock offering worth as much as $35 million. In the document, Network Solutions said it "cannot predict whether a civil action will ultimately be filed by the [Justice Department] or by private litigants as a result of the [Justice Department] investigation or, if filed, what such action would entail." The document also states that "neither SAIC nor [Network Solutions] is aware of the scope or nature of the investigation." [...] ------------------------- Declan McCullagh Time Inc. The Netly News Network Washington Correspondent http://netlynews.com/