After a more than yearlong battle with the government and Internet organizations, Network Solutions, Inc. CEO Gabe Battista is leaving the company to join telephone upstart Tel-Save.com.
Battista, who joined NSI in Oct. 1996 after a stint with Cable & Wireless, Inc., led NSI through its battle with the Clinton administration and 'Net parties over domain name registration.
The company in October signed a two-year agreement with the government to extend its role as registry for the .com, .net, .org and .edu domains. The government this year released its proposal for ending NSI's monopoly, which it gained through a contract with the National Science Foundation.
Last month, the Internet Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers (ICANN) was created to carry out the move of domain registration from the public to private sector. A key creator of the plan, Jon Postel, died last month before the company's bylaws were finalized.
This month, Ira Magaziner, President Clinton's top Internet advisor, announced he would resign by the end of the year, leaving ICANN to sort itself out with the Department of Commerce.
All of this turmoil with the three leading participants in the process - Magaziner, Battista and Postel - leaves ICANN progress teetering. Several Internet groups have written letters to the Department of Commerce expressing dismay over ICANN's bylaws, criticizing the nonprofit for not having a more open decision-making process.
Michael Daniels, chairman of NSI's board of directors, will act as interim CEO for NSI. However, the company hasn't named a long-term replacement.
Battista's new company, Tel-Save, offers telecom services exclusively through America Online.
RELATED LINKS
Groups complain about ICANN bylaws
Network World Fusion, 11/13/98.
