Changes

==Registry and Registrar==

==Registry and Registrar==

===Vertical Separation===

===Vertical Separation===

When the DOC amended NSI's cooperative agreement and implemented SRS, the DOC also put a condition on the renewal of NSI's contract: the company would be able to automatically renew its contract for another four years as long as it separated its registry and registrar businesses. This was done in order to promote more competition in the domain space.<ref>[http://archive.icann.org/en/nsi/nsi-registry-agreement-04nov99.htm ICANN-NSI Registry Agreement]</ref>

When the U.S. [[DOC|Department of Commerce]] amended [[Network Solutions]]' (NSI) cooperative agreement and implemented the [[SRS|Shared Registry System]] (SRS), the DOC also put a condition on the renewal of NSI's contract: the company would be able to automatically renew its contract for another four years as long as it separated its [[registry]] and registrar businesses. This was done in order to promote more competition in the domain space.<ref>[http://archive.icann.org/en/nsi/nsi-registry-agreement-04nov99.htm ICANN-NSI Registry Agreement]</ref>

In 2000, [[Verisign]] purchased Network Solutions for $16 billion. Verisign decided to sell the registrar business to Pivotal Private for $100 million in order to concentrate on its new registry business.<ref>[http://www.marketwatch.com/story/verisign-sells-domain-registrar-business-for-100-mln VeriSign selling domain registrar business]</ref> This move enabled Verisign to re-negotiate its registry agreement with ICANN. On April 16, 2001, a Revised Registry Agreement for .com, .net and .org was adopted. Number 23 (C) Fair Treatment of ICANN-Accredited Registrars on the revised agreement stipulated, "Registry Operator shall not act as a registrar with respect to the Registry TLD. This shall not preclude Registry Operator from registering names within the domain of the Registry TLD in compliance with Section 24. This also shall not preclude an affiliate (including wholly-owned subsidiaries) of Registry Operator from acting as a registrar with respect to the Registry TLD, provided that Registry Operator complies with the provisions of Subsection 23(E)." Sub-section E also stated that Registry Operators must ensure that their assets and revenues would not be utilized to advance the interests of their affiliate registrars against other accredited competitor registrars.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/verisign/registry-agmt-com-16apr01-en.htm Revised VeriSign .com Registry Agreement, 16 April 2001]</ref>  

In 2000, [[Verisign]] purchased Network Solutions for $16 billion. Verisign decided to sell the registrar business to Pivotal Private for $100 million in order to concentrate on its new registry business.<ref>[http://www.marketwatch.com/story/verisign-sells-domain-registrar-business-for-100-mln VeriSign selling domain registrar business]</ref> This move enabled Verisign to re-negotiate its registry agreement with ICANN. On April 16, 2001, a Revised Registry Agreement for .com, .net and .org was adopted. Number 23 (C) Fair Treatment of ICANN-Accredited Registrars on the revised agreement stipulated, "Registry Operator shall not act as a registrar with respect to the Registry TLD. This shall not preclude Registry Operator from registering names within the domain of the Registry TLD in compliance with Section 24. This also shall not preclude an affiliate (including wholly-owned subsidiaries) of Registry Operator from acting as a registrar with respect to the Registry TLD, provided that Registry Operator complies with the provisions of Subsection 23(E)." Sub-section E also stated that Registry Operators must ensure that their assets and revenues would not be utilized to advance the interests of their affiliate registrars against other accredited competitor registrars.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/verisign/registry-agmt-com-16apr01-en.htm Revised VeriSign .com Registry Agreement, 16 April 2001]</ref>