ADNS Statement about the recent FTC Action Against DOTUSA.COM Operators.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 2002

ADNS is pleased to see that the operations of TLD Networks have been halted by the FTC and British Authorities.

ADNS would like to point out the difference between our .USA and the one advertised on DOTUSA.COM:

ADNS has always made it clear that our .USA is not listed in the ICANN controlled root server network, and that any domains registered in our .USA would only be visible to those who used inclusive namespace servers such as those operated by ORSC and Pacificroot.com.

TLD Networks is accused of deceptive advertising, sending out large amounts of unsolicited e-mail ("spam") which led people to believe that their .USA domains would be universally visible.

ADNS goes to great pains to inform users about the limited visibility of inclusive namespace domains, including a clear message right above the SUBMIT button on our web registration form (www.adns.net/registrate.html).

In 1995, ADNS's president, John Palmer, made an application to the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to operate a registry for a .USA top level domain and set up its registry. Many others made applications to operate other top level domains at that time. This sparked the debate that eventually led to the creation of ICANN.

Almost from the beginning, however, Palmer said that the process got off track and was taken over by people with agendas that many people, including Palmer, felt were not in the best interest of the internet community. Alternative name server networks began to appear, some operated by volunteers, some by businesses. These networks are separate from the ICANN controlled system. These servers offered up many thousands of domain extensions, such as .ONLINE, .ETC, .WEB and many more, including ADNS's .USA, .Z, .EARTH, .LION and .AMERICA

The key thing for people to understand about these "inclusive namespace" servers, is that users or ISP's have to choose to use them. By default, most users and ISPs will be pointing to the ICANN controlled name servers and will not be able to see the inclusive namespace domains.

ADNS has always made it clear that we are not part of the ICANN process and do not intend to be. ADNS feels that ICANN is a corrupt monopoly that has hijacked the internet namespace for the profit of a few organizations. ADNS sees the need for continued alternatives to ICANN and will therefore continue to support the Inclusive Namespace.

John Palmer is a founding member and current chairman of the board of the Top-Level Domain Association (www.tlda.net). TLDA is a trade association of Top-Level domain holders and seeks to develop best-practices for the fledgling TLD industry as well as provide a rallying point to fight the monopoly that ADNS believes exists in the domain namespace.

ADNS will continue to operate its registry and will continue to make certain that people understand the important issues unfolding on the internet with respect to the domain namespace.