US body 'taxing' European domains

Europe's domain name registries have once again locked horns with internet governing body Icann in their long-running battle over charges.

The issue, which has dogged the organisation for the last 18 months, seems no closer to being resolved following two days of heated negotiations in Luxembourg last month.

Centr, the association of European country code registries which manage domains such as dot-de, dot-fr and dot-uk, reasserted its refusal to pay extra fees being demanded by Icann until it draws up a service-level agreement.

But Icann CEO Stuart Lynn has refused to accept Centr's proposals on a suitable contract.

Dr Willie Black, MD of Nominet, the registry which manages the dot-uk domain and Centr member, admitted he was frustrated by the deadlock.

"We're happy to pay them for a service," he told silicon.com, "but Icann claim they're not in the business of providing a service."

The issue hinges on the management of the root server, the underlying database for the registration and management of domain names worldwide.

Europe's country-code registries pay Icann a fee for the maintenance of the database, but are refusing to accept any price hike until Icann provides a written contract for its activities, including penalty clauses.

Nominet paid $100,000 in fees last year, a third of what Icann is demanding

Black added: "Icann is struggling to know its role in life... All we're asking for is a lightweight body for technical management and for that we'll happily pay a fee."

Twelve of the 13 distributed root servers which contain the data are still maintained on a voluntary basis, a situation which Black claims cannot continue.

"These volunteers are dedicated individuals who have done a good job, but this has to be on a professional level now," he said.

The registry also objects to Icann's method of calculating its fees based on the number of domains used.

"It's a very facile way of counting and it can be unfair. We don't charge customers for domain names based on their size, so neither should Icann," said Black.

"I don't think there should be a tax on domain names - particularly coming from a US company."

If the deadlock continues the UK registrar is threatening to withdraw all payments, a move it claims many of its European counterparts would follow.