When Registries Run Wild:
An Analysis of VeriSign's Site Finder Service

John Selby, Macquarie University

Thursday 27 May 2004

1:00 to 2:00 pm, including 15 minutes for questions

Valentine Annex (Building H22) upper campus behind the library, UNSW
Map: http://www.unsw.edu.au/maps/kensington.pdf
Enter via Gate 11 Botany St Randwick.

In September 2003, VeriSign launched its controversial Site Finder Service which created a storm of protest from the technical Internet community and was temporarily suspended within three weeks after pressure from ICANN. In an attempt to raise hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue, Site Finder had redirected mis-typed domain name requests to an information, advertising and search service offered by VeriSign. This fundamentally challenged many of the assumptions that had been inherent in the Internet in relation to the DNS and raised many issues relating to Internet governance.

John Selby is a lecturer in the Division of Law at Macquarie University. He formerly practised as a commercial Internet lawyer at Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Sydney and with TMI Associates in Tokyo, Japan. John researches and publishes across a range of Internet regulatory, strategy and commercial issues and consults on Internet strategy. He is a research associate of the Baker & McKenzie Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre.