Closing the door on an open Internet

Should generic top-level domains be under sole control of one company?

Controversy is brewing over some companies plans to make generic gTLDs private online spaces

In November 1999, in one of its first actions, ICANN came good on its mandate to introduce competition within the Internet's infrastructure and signed an agreement with Network Solutions that required it to allow other companies to sell registrations under the dot-com registry.

It was the beginning of a rule that no Internet registry can sell domain names under its own name, and it should give ready access to other companies that wish to. The result was an explosion of competition, and a drop in domain prices from $50 to $6 a year.