VeriSign is the dominant domain name registrar on the Web. Among other things, it has had an exclusive lock on registering domain names that end in .org and .net. On March 1, 2001, VeriSign gave notice that it was giving up its exclusive arrangement in order to focus its registry services on commercial and individual customers. Network Solutions Inc. (NSI) used to be the major Internet registrar, having benefited from what was, in effect, a monopoly granted by the federal government in 1993, to register Internet name space that ended in .com, .net, and .org. NSI made a deal with the U.S. Department of Commerce, under which it received rights to operate the domain registry for all the .com, .net, and .org addresses (currently totaling about 28 million top-level domains) floating around the Web until 2007. It then had to spin off its commercial registration services to help foster a competitive marketplace of registration services. While the scores of registration companies began to grow, VeriSign, which bought NSI last year for US$21 billion, continued a dominant hold on the marketplace. That's because VeriSign still controls the Internet registry itself, and still gets a cut from each name registered. In the deal announced last week, the company can now operate the .net registry beyond 2006, the .com registry past 2007, and will operate the .org registry until December 2002. VeriSign would have to permanently give up its ability to run the .org registry, but could bid again to run the .net registry. In return, VeriSign would set up a US$5 million endowment for a new nonprofit group to run the .org registry, and a US$200 million sum for 10 years worth of research to find ways to improve the efficiency of Internet registries. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – the international body that maintains domain name policies for the Internet – has to, along with VeriSign's directors and the U.S. Commerce Department, approve the deal. ICANN's vote is set for April 1, 2001. If approved, this would leave a registration environment where three Internet registries would exist, instead of the one in place now. Separate Internet registries are in the works for the seven new top-level domain names ICANN approved last year, which will not be under VeriSign's control. ICANN has expressed an interest in ultimately keeping .org reserved exclusively for nonprofits and public interest groups. If the plan is approved, no existing .org names, including those used by individuals or commercial entities, will be revoked when the registry is maintained by the new entity. ICANN is inviting public comments on the proposed agreement through its website. This topic will be discussed at the ICANN Public Forum to be held on March 12, 2001, in Melbourne, Australia. The agreement is expected to be signed by the end of March, so nonprofits are encouraged to provide their input soon. If the plan is approved, a number of issues will be raised for the nonprofit sector here and abroad. Chief among them is what standards, and ultimately, what public interest representation will be involved in the formation and governance of the nonprofit entity, and what, ultimately, constitutes noncommercial activity online – including open source projects, political work, and community or civil society projects. Groups who want more background information on ICANN, its operation, and relevance to nonprofits have two online resource forums. The first is The Noncommercial Domain Name Holders Constituency (NCDNHC), one of ICANN's Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO). NCHNHC supports noncommercial Internet activity and the domain names under which it takes place. The group and its discussion list is open to any interested parties. The second is ICANNWatch, an online forum for debate and information around ICANN activity as it affects the public interest.