...

So, since there won't be a flag day, ...

Maybe that's the point. The notion of Internet flag days has largely disappeared as the Internet's ubiquity and criticality have increased. There won't be flag days for IPv6, S(o)BGP, BGP-5, etc.

So what's a company like Verisign to do when they want to substantially change the way the COM and NET zones work?

Apples to Oranges. There is no single point declaring the protocol to be used to connect to the Internet. Without that sort of control, no substantial change can be forced. Thanks, Christian PS: Randy B., please stop your braindead, indiscriminate I-don't-want-legalease automagic spams that react to mailing list(!) mail. ***** "The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential, proprietary, and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from all computers.61"