NSF PR 98-17 - March 16, 1998
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NSF and NSI End Internet Intellectual Infrastructure
Fund Portion of Domain Name Registration Fees
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Network
Solutions, Inc. (NSI) today announced the end of the
Internet Intellectual Infrastructure Fund portion
of domain name registration charges. As a result,
the annual fee for domain name registration, which
has been $50 since fees were imposed in 1995, will
decline to $35, reducing the cost of domain name registration
by 30 percent. The change will be effective April
1, 1998.
The Internet Intellectual Infrastructure Fund was
created to offset government funding for the preservation
and enhancement of the intellectual infrastructure
of the Internet. More than $45.5 million has been
deposited into the fund to date.
On March 12, the cooperative agreement between NSF
and NSI was amended to stop contribution to the fund
consistent with recommendations in the Clinton Administration
draft discussion paper, "DNS Management Proposed Rule
and Request for Public Comment (Improvement of Technical
Management of Internet Names and Addresses)" -- commonly
referred to as the "green paper." March 31 marks the
end of the originally defined operational period in
the agreement between NSF and NSI. Given the amount
of the fund, NSF no longer believes it necessary to
continue charging a percentage of the registration
fee for the preservation and enhancement of the Internet's
intellectual infrastructure.
NSF has indicated that registration services for the
Internet are now a self-sustaining activity and are
beyond the mission of the agency which is to support
science and engineering research and education. NSF
does not intend to renew or recompete any agreement
for registration services.
Domain name registration is the process by which an
alpha character string (e.g., nsf.gov) -- by which
people navigate the Internet -- becomes associated
with the twelve-digit Internet Protocol (IP) number
which computers on the network actually use to locate
and communicate with each other. In 1993, the National
Science Foundation awarded a five-year cooperative
agreement to Network Solutions, Inc. for registration
services.
Network Solutions is currently responsible for registration
services for four top level domains: .edu for
institutions of higher learning; .org for non-profit
organizations; .net for network service providers;
and .com for commercial organizations (the
fastest growing realm). In 1997, the General Services
Administration assumed responsibility for registration
in the .gov domain, which is reserved for U.S.
federal agencies.
Fees for domain name registration services began in
September 1995, as the demand for Internet registration
became largely (97 percent) commercial and grew by
orders of magnitude, exceeding NSF's ability to fund
the registration. The NSF authorized NSI to begin
charging a fee for domain name registration and set
aside 30% for the Internet Intellectual Infrastructure
Fund. No money from the fund has yet been spent.
The future administration of domain name registration,
particularly regarding generic top level domains (such
as .com) which are not linked to any country code
(such as .us,) is the subject of the Clinton Administration
draft discussion paper.
Editors: Information about the fund and amounts
deposited can be found at: http://rs.internic.net/announcements/iif-update.html
The Clinton Administration draft discussion paper,
"DNS Management Proposed Rule and Request for Public
Comment (Improvement of Technical Management of Internet
Names and Addresses)" can be found at:
http://www.ntia.doc.gov
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