Network Solutions' domain name monopoly slipping away

Former Net name registrar, Network Solutions, has finally agreed to give competing registrar companies access to its master domain name database, according to a leaked report in an American newswire today.

After years of protest over Network Solutions' stranglehold on global domain name system, steps have been made over the past year to slowly siphon control away from the company.

The first step was to set up an international organisation to oversee the system - so the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was born.

This latest decision, enforced by the US department of commerce, is the next important stage in this diffusion of power. Other companies will now be able to offer registration services to global customers looking for domain names and will charge $6 instead of the $35 originally charged by Network Solutions.

The official announcement is expected sometime this evening from the US.