I have no idea who Bob Parsons is, but after reading http://www.bobparsons.com/dotcomscam.html I was just *steaming* mad. Yet again, Verisign are acting in a disgusting fashion. You should be ashamed of yourselves too, ICANN - why would you be a party to this kind of foul behaviour?

Some snippets from the article (I really hope this isn't true):

VeriSign wants to control the .COM registry forever.
VeriSign has somehow persuaded ICANN to propose a new contract where VeriSign will be the permanent and unregulated controller of the .COM registry. VeriSign would also get the right of presumptive renewal. This means when the new contract for the .COM registry comes up for renewal in 2012, it won’t be put out for bid – like the .NET contract was in 2005 – instead it will simply renew in VeriSign’s favor.

Plus VeriSign gets to raise prices without oversight!
But wait! There’s more. Not only will the .COM registry contract never again be put out for bid, but VeriSign will also have the right to raise prices, in its sole discretion, up to 7% per year in four of the next six years. So they can raise prices by up to 28% over the next six years.

What the heck is this? How can companies be allowed to get away with this, and more importantly, why do we let them get away with it? We need to stand up for what's right.

Seeing as I'm a Canuck, there's less I can do about this... but my American friends, you can do alot more than me! Go hit the link above, Mr. Parson's has provided a letter than you can use/sign and send to your governmental representative.

Let's give it to Verisign - they need a whoopin'! And while you're at it, write ICANN and tell them you're not happy with their role in this.

[On another note, this is the *exact* kind of reason why the internet should not remain under US control. The rest of the world has little or no input - it should be under international control of some kind, and it's infrastucture controls, technical and policy bodies should all be not-for-profit, and have open boards that anyone can be elected to serve on.]