Three US Congressmen have asked the Bush Administration to review a recent deal that would extend VeriSign's control of the lucrative .com Internet domain name suffix.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin, Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton and Ed Markey, the subcommittee's top Democrat, asked the Commerce Department to take a closer look at a deal announced March 1 between VeriSign and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the independent body that oversees the Internet's naming system.
The deal would allow VeriSign to hold onto long-term rights for the .com domain in return for surrendering its rights to the .net and .org suffixes.
ICANN, which plans to vote on the deal on April 2, has faced many calls to reject the proposal.
In a letter to Commerce Department Secretary Donald Evans, the three Congressmen asked the agency to review the deal to ensure that it does not threaten competition.
``Without taking a position on the propriety of the revised agreement, we want to ensure that any actions by ICANN support and encourage strong, vibrant competition,'' the letter said.
The Commerce Department has authority to oversee ICANN under its 1998 charter.
