ICANN breaks budget impasse

October 2004

The nonprofit agency in charge of the Net's address system has gained approval for its controversial 2004-2005 budget, following months of acrimony between large registrars and their smaller competitors.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) hammered out the agreement Friday after resolving a key disagreement that had delayed the measure. The sticking point was a tripartite fee structure that smaller registrars organized to fight, claiming it unfairly disadvantaged them.

"We're declaring that the budget is adopted and the fee structure has been approved," said Kurt Pritz, ICANN's vice president for business operations. "This is not a victory over the registrars. It's a victory with the registrars."

ICANN's budget woes come as the group fends off numerous costly lawsuits. The highest profile of these, by Verisign, was thrown out of federal court in August and immediately revived in California state court.

Pritz said ICANN was defending itself in more than a half dozen other suits, and that from last fiscal year to this one its legal expenses had risen by $1.4 million, more than doubling.