A group of eight Internet domain name registrars has filed suit against the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and VeriSign

A group of eight Internet domain name registrars has filed suit against the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and VeriSign in a bid to stop VeriSign's proposed waitlisting service (WLS) from going live. The registrars claim that under VeriSign's system, people will have to pay four times the cost of actually registering a domain name just to be on the waitlist. The lawsuit called the WLS "anti-consumer, anti-competitive and unnecessary." The latest action comes after another group of registrars calling itself "The Domain Justice Coalition" sued ICANN to stop the launch of VeriSign's waitlist service when it was proposed in July 2003. That suit was reportedly settled. It also adds another layer to litigation awaiting both VeriSign and ICANN over overlapping issues regarding the waitlisting service. On Thursday, VeriSign filed an antitrust lawsuit against ICANN, charging that ICANN broke its contract with VeriSign when it prohibited and delayed the registrar from providing Internet services such as its SiteFinder and its WLS. Derek Newman, a principal of the Seattle-based law firm of Newman and Newman and lead attorney representing the registrars in their suit against ICANN and VeriSign, said while other actions are about antitrust, his group's action is about consumer protection.