VeriSign Plans Domain Wait List 
Jan. 04, 2002

The largest U.S. Internet registrar is planning to create a waiting list for expiring domain names, in an effort to add order to the system for doling out deleted names and to make money at a time when new website purchases are dwindling. 

On Friday, VeriSign Inc. said it is tentatively planning to roll out the waiting list service on March 20, pending approval from ICANN, the Internet's chief regulatory group. 

The service, which VeriSign said will be available at any interested registrar, will allow people who want a domain name that someone else owns to pay for the privilege of being first in line to snap it up once it expires. 

"For many years now, we've been hearing from customers that they want to get on a waiting list for a name that's already registered," said Cheryl Regan, a VeriSign (VRSN) spokeswoman. 

The waiting list plan comes at a time when revenue from registrations of new websites in the dot-com, dot-org and dot-net domains are showing signs of shrinking. In the first nine months of 2001, VeriSign recorded 8.5 million new registrations, compared to 15.7 million in the same period in 2000. 

At the same time, however, the number of renewals, transfers and extensions of existing domains is still growing, Regan said, prompting registrars to focus more heavily on that side of the business. 

Regan said VeriSign has not yet established a price for the waiting list service. 

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