Battle heats up over dot-biz Web address

Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON: An independent Internet company has asked the US government to

resolve a dispute over who has the rights to license the ".biz" suffix

on Internet addresses.

The Atlantic Root Network Inc., a Virginia Beach, Va.-based Internet

registry, filed a motion with the Commerce Department Monday alleging that the

Internet's governing body overstepped its authority when it approved the .biz

suffix for use last month.

Atlantic Root said in its motion that the Internet Corporation for Assigned

Names and Numbers (ICANN) has no right to award the .biz registry to another

company because Atlantic Root has been licensing .biz addresses since May this

year.

ICANN officials were not available for comment.

ICANN's board of directors approved seven new domain names when it met in

California last month. Existing domains such as .com, .net, and .org will be

joined by the likes of .coop, .museum and .biz. sometime next year.

Control of the .biz domain was awarded to JVTeam, a joint venture between

Washington networking company NeuStar Inc. and Melbourne IT, an Australian

domain registry.

Under an alternative addressing system, Atlantic Root has licensed 1,200 .biz

addresses since last spring, addresses that could be duplicated when the ICANN-approved

domains become available in February 2001.

"It will fracture the Internet, and it is already causing chaos,"

Atlantic Root President Leah Gallegos told Reuters on Thursday.

Gallegos said one domain, hotsex.biz, has already been offered up for auction

on eBay even though another hotsex.biz is registered with Atlantic Root.

Alternative addressing system



Atlantic Root acquired its rights to register .biz names from the Open Root
Server Confederation, a group that espouses a more egalitarian approach to

domain names and has approved many more domains for its alternative addressing

system than ICANN currently allows.

But most computers cannot view .biz addresses without modifying settings on

their computers or at their Internet service provider.

Some members of the confederation, including Gallegos, say that ICANN

represents the interests of big business and government at the expense of

independent operators.

"It's a power grab," Gallegos said. "ICANN wants to control

the Internet."

ICANN has recognized other domains that exist outside of its addressing

system. At its meeting last month, ICANN board members decided not to approve

the domain .web for use because it was already administered by another company.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.