The following was just recently made
public. For what it's worth, it's an interesting read:
(the entire text of the letter was previously restricted confidential
this excerpt appeared th the Court papers of 3-17-1999)
At some point, the entire text of NSI's proposal may be available
online, as soon as it is released publicly in its entirety.
The full text of the Court's decision will be posted soon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Excerpt from the opinion and order of Judge Robert Patterson,
pgMedia/Name.Space v. NSI/NSF:
On June 10, 1997, NSI's Internet Business Manager, David Graves wrote
to Don Mitchell, Cognizant Program Official for the NSF's Network and
Communication Division, expressing concern over PGM's suit and other
potential litigation over the TLD registration issue.
Network Solutions finds itself in the difficult position of defending
itself against anti-trust claims that its server is an "essential
facility" for Internet commerce, while at the same time privately and
publicly supporting the addition of more TLDs to enhance competition.
Further, Network Solutions must defend itself without any certainty
as to whether it has the authority to accept or reject demands, such
as PGMedia's, for the inclusion of additional TLDs. There are no
technological restrictions or impediments to the inclusion of
additional TLDs to our root.zone file. Network Solutions has no
interest in being the target of such actions, and, I am certain, the
NSF does not want to become one either. In the absence of action, the
number of lawsuits will likely increase as more demands for the
inclusion of additional TLDs are received.
Network Solutions has in the past reviewed and forwarded requests for
new TLDs to the IANA. With few exceptions, the TLDs, however, were for
new country code designations. Network Solutions consulted with the
IANA before including those TLDs on our root.zone file. However, in the
face of the IANA's unwillingness or inability to accept any
responsibility, and the impending legal threats, it appears that the
decision process will be limited at least initially to Network
Solutions operating in a responsible manner with NSF concurrence. We
envision that the administration of INternet top level domains will
need to be conducted in this manner during the Cooperative Agreement,
while the future governance issues of the Internet evolve and mature.
Under the above circumstances, we believe that additional TLDs should
be included on our root.zone file. We also believe that the addition
of new TLDs will be beneficial to a more competitive environment and
desirable for a further commercialization of Internet registration
services at this time. Accordingly, it is our intention to announce
publicly that on July 15, 1997 Network Solutions will begin accepting
applications to include new TLDs on the root.zone file from PGMedia,
Iperdome, and other interested parties.
By this letter, we seek NSF's concurrence in this action, and
respecfully request your response no later than June 25, 1997, to
allow us sufficient time to finalize our plan and to report to the
Federal Court in the PGMedia suit. Network Solutions believes that it
is imperitive to proceed with the public announcement of this plan,
and urges NSF's prompt consideration of an concurrence on the
implementation process.
[end of excerpt]
NSF's response letter:
http://name.space-beats-internic.net/law/answers/letters/NSF-NSI06251997.jpg
index of other exhibits:
http://name.space-beats-internic.net/law/answers/letters/
Transcript of Oral Arguments, July 20, 1998:
http://name.space-beats-internic.net/law/july20transcript.html
