Letter from Alden Abbott, U.S. Departmant of Commerce, to M. Stuart Lynn 24 April 2001

APR 24 2001

M. Stuart Lynn
Persident and Chief Executive Officer
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
Marina del Rey, CA 90292

Dear Mr. Lynn:

The Department of Commerce has received your April 16, 2001 letter requesting expedited review and approval of a series of agreements between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and VeriSign, Inc. Given the significant issues raised by the agreements, the Department will need the next few weeks to complete a thorough review to achieve a comprehensive understanding of their implications for competition in the domain name market and the security and stability of the Internet. We are thus targeting May 14,2001 as the date for communicating the results of our review to you.

We would ask that ICANN and VeriSign personnel be available to us during that time to answer any questions that may arise during our review process. We believe that such cooperation would expedite our review and ensure our fullest understanding of these agreements.

As you note in your letter, the current agreement and Amendment 19 of Cooperative Agreement NCR 92-18742 requires that VeriSign complete certain actions by May 10, 2001. The Department is willing to extend that date until May 31,2001 to prevent adverse economic consequences to VeriSign during the Department’s consideration of these agreements.

Sincerely,

Alden F. Abbott
Acting General Counsel

cc: Roger Cochetti, Sr. Vice President of Policy, VeriSign, Inc.