Internet guru slams domain naming system

29/4/99 00:25am

The CEO of Internet company NetNames has launched a scathing attack on the recently reformed domain name registration system, saying political motives have distorted the reorganisation process.

CEO Ivan Pope, said that when Icann - the organisation responsible for handing the Net naming process over to the private sector - chose the contract winners, it did so on a political basis rather than on technical merit.

The five contract winners are AOL, Core, France Telecom, Melbourne IT Registrar and register.com, which now have the power to manage and award .com Web addresses.

In an exclusive interview with Silicon.com, Pope said: "I think it's clear they were selected on political grounds. AOL has even admitted it has no idea why it was chosen."

Pope claims AOL is in no position to handle the naming process, including the expansion of domain name endings beyond .com, because of the strength of the AOL.com brand.

However Pope also said there are positive sides to the reorganisation which include the lowering of the registration fee from $75 to $18, and the general speeding up of the process which will benefit users and seekers of popular domain names.