It just boggles the mind that the USG  is going to tap these
folks to continue to manage the .com registry.

Leni.

http://www.idg.net/idg_frames/english/content.cgi?url=http%3a%2f%2fwww2%2ecomputerworld%2ecom%2fhome%2fonline9697%2ensf%2fidgnet%2f980422network1EBBA&allowFeedback=false&BackWeb=T

Network Solutions buys domain name broker
Stewart Deck

Internet domain registrar Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI)
today said it had bought Internet Domain Names,
Inc. (IDNames), a Houston company that specializes in
worldwide domain name search and registration.

NSI officials said the takeover will allow them to begin
offering worldwide registration services to companies that
want to build global brands. "More and more companies
are choosing to register widely recognized brand names
in the country-code top-level domains, in addition to
their .com registrations," said NSI CEO Gabe Battista,
in a statement. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

By combining the two companies' capabilities, NSI will
be able to offer domain name search and registration
services in the 183 countries that currently offer domain
name registration.

Last year, IDNames served as the broker in a record-setting
$150,000 sale of the business.com domain from Business
Systems International Ltd., a systems integrator in London,
to an unnamed buyer.