VeriSign and CFIT End Litigation

VeriSign and the Coalition for ICANN Transparency have reached an agreement to settle the antitrust lawsuit CFIT brought against VeriSign with no payment made and both parties agreeing to end proceedings with prejudice of all claims in the litigation.

VeriSign and the Coalition for ICANN Transparency have reached an agreement to settle the antitrust lawsuit CFIT brought against VeriSign with no payment made and both parties agreeing to end proceedings with prejudice of all claims in the litigation.In their announcement saying that all proceedings had been resolved, VeriSign noted that “CFIT voluntarily agreed to dismiss its claims in their entirety with prejudice in view of recent developments in the case, including the Amended Opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the subsequent orders of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division dismissing the claims regarding .NET and for disgorgement, and Verisign’s motion for summary judgment.”The court case was brought about when CFIT challenged on antitrust grounds both Verisign’s pricing of domain names and Verisign’s threat, as described by CFIT, to usurp the vibrant secondary market for the sale of expiring domain names as a sole source supplier.Had they won, CFIT would have impacted dramatically on VeriSign’s business, so it must be reassuring to VeriSign that the court action has ended.