Sernovitz attack

[avc@netnamesusa.com (Antony Van Couvering)]

Several days ago, Mr. Andrew Sernovitz, a well-known opponent of the
gTLD-MoU plan to create new Internet top-level domains, made an attack upon
the gLTD-MoU plan and against NetNames specifically in testimony before a
Congressional subcommittee.  He linked NetNames to the leadership of the
gTLD-MoU, and NetNames to the Libyan government, and thereby linked the
gTLD-MoU to the Libyan government.  His point, it seems, was to show the
irresponsibility and un-American nature of the gTLD-MoU.  I think he has
shown his own colors.

As it happens, Mr. Sernovitz's misconceived grandstanding, in which he
completely misrepresenting the role of NetNames in order to discredit the
gTLD-MoU, may have turned over what was once a vehicle for free speech and
political dissent into an organ of the Libyan government.  More on this below.

It is unfortunate and discouraging that Mr. Sernovitz has picked NetNames
as focal point for his campaign.  In his testimony to Congress, Mr.
Sernovitz made a number of serious misrepresentations about NetNames that I
would like to clear up.  This is not to convince Mr. Sernovitz, he probably
doesn't entirely believe what he said anyway, but just for the record, and
this simply because silence can be seen as consent.

NetNames works with all the national top-level domains on behalf of our
clients.  Over the last two years, many new and underfunded top-level
domains, recognizing the experience and professionalism of NetNames, have
turned to either NetNames, Ltd. or NetNames USA for technical and other
help with their top-level domains.  National top-level domains for whom one
or the other of our companies have provided help include American Samoa,
Bhutan, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, and Palau.  NetNames provides
services in exchange for a share in the revenue from registrations, on a
cost-recovery basis.

Many other companies and institutions provide the same sort of services on
what is essentially an altruistic basis.  For instance, UUNET and Munnari
in Australia provide secondary DNS services for several of the domains
listed above. 

In the case of Libya, an English company from Manchester, Fast-net
Developments Ltd., applied to IANA for the top-level domain .ly.  Fast-net
Development's owner, Kalil Elwiheishi, is also listed as the administrative
contact for the .ly domain, with an address in Tripoli, which fulfills
IANA's residency requirement.  I do not know when Mr. Elwiheishi was
assigned the .ly domain, but his company contacted Mark Henderson-Thynne of
NetNames Ltd. in London in early January of 1997 and asked us for their
technical support.

Because NetNames has a commercial interest in stable and functioning nTLDs,
NetNames Ltd. agreed.  We have helped and continue to help several other
emerging nTLDs.  NetNames Ltd. therefore entered the .ly domain on its
servers and constructed a very simple website, consisting of a link to an
email template which serves as a registration form, with instructions.  Mr.
Elwiheishi, who as administrative contact sets the rules for the domain,
decided, after consultation with NetNames Ltd., to assign names strictly on
a first-come, first-served basis, as is the practice in approximately 70 of
245 nTLDs worldwide.

A majority of nTLDs also have fees for domain name registrations, and it
was decided to charge registrants a fee of $100 for the first two years,
and $50 each year thereafter.  In exchange for its technical services,
NetNames Ltd., which handles the billing for the .ly domain, was allowed to
recoup its costs, estimated at 50% of the total from the domain fees before
remitting the remainder to Fast-net Developments.  NetNames USA soon
registered under .ly the names of several of its clients who had asked for
worldwide domain registration.  As it happens, NetNames Ltd. has made no
payments to either Mr. Elwiheishi or to Fast-net Developments, although
some of our clients may have made payment to the .ly domain - i.e. to
NetNames Ltd., because it handles the billing.  In either case no money has
been disbursed.

On September 9, 1997, Mr. Henderson-Thynne copied me on an email which I'll
quote because it really puts to rest Mr. Sernovitz's scurrilous attack:

"I have also contacted the relevant person concerning UK sanctions (Spencer
Chilvers at the Department of Trade and Industry Sanctions Unit), and he
has told me that our running of the .ly domain is not in breach of UK or UN
sanctions against Libya....  There is also an assets freeze with regards to
Libya, but, as detailed below, payments for .ly domains are split equally
between ourselves and Kalil Elwiheishi (a UK resident Libyan citizen with
no links to the Libyan government) and we have been advised that this is
not in breech [sic] of the assets freeze as the payment are not made to
Libya (we will also be checking with the Bank of England Sanctions Unit to
confirm this).

"I have spoken to Kalil today and he has confirmed to me that he has no
links to the Libyan government and that he operates a private company....
there is no link between Libya and the operation of the .ly domain, just as
the majority of country code domains [nTLDs] around the world are not run
(or even influenced) by their respective governments....

"To date the Libyan registry has not received any payment from any US
company, we are behind in our billing so the only payment we have received
to date is from a Swedish company....
 
"Any payments received are split equally between NetNames Ltd. (to cover
our costs of nameserver operation) and Kalil Elwiheishi, a Libyan citizen
resident in the UK. To date no payments have been made to Kalil, payments
will only be made once we have confirmed that such payments do not breach
sanctions."


Let me summarize:

· There is no connection between the Libyan government and the .ly domain,
nor is there ever a necessary connection between the administration of an
nTLD and the country's government.
· The administrative contact for the .ly domain lives in Britain, and his
company is a registered British company, Fast-net Developments.
· NetNames Ltd. contracted with the British company.
· NetNames USA and NetNames Ltd. are separate though related companies.
NetNames USA has no ownership interest in NetNames Ltd.
· Neither NetNames USA nor NetNames Ltd. have made any payments to the
Libyan government or to any Libyan national; nor have we assigned any
domains at the behest of the Libyan government.   We are not aware that the
Libyan government knows that there is a .ly domain, or that they can
control it.

Since Mr. Sernovitz's attack, Mark Henderson-Thynne wrote to me to say:

"I just had a call from a UK isp (http://www.clara.net/)
saying that their MD has close links with the Libyan Government
and that they had been told by the Libyan Government to get 
control of the .ly domain.

"It appears that they will be contacting IANA and requesting the
transfer of the domain. They also stated that they will de-register
any non-Libyan companies domains already registered under .ly

"So much for "no borders in Cyberspace"."

So, instead of anyone -- such as political dissidents -- being able to
register a domain, the .ly domain will soon fall under the sway of Colonel
Khaddaffi.  Such are Mr. Sernovitz's rewards.

If anyone has further questions, they should contact Mark Henderson-Thynne
of NetNames Ltd. at mark@netnames.com, who has first-hand knowledge of all
these events.

Regards,

Antony Van Couvering


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Antony Van Couvering | avc@netnamesusa.com
NETNAMES USA - International Domain Name Registry
430 West 14th St., Suite 401 New York, NY 10014 USA
Phone Toll-free 888-NETNAMES | Intl: +1 212 627-4599 
Fax +1 212 627-5744 | http://www.netnamesusa.com
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