Cooperative Agreement [Amendment No. 9] - National Science Foundation and Network Solutions Inc.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
4201 WILSON BOULEVARD
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA 22230
Mr. David M. Graves
Director, Business Affairs
Network Solutions, Inc.
505 Huntmar Park Drive
Herndon, VA 20170
Cooperative Agreement No. NCR-9218742
Amendment No. 09
Dear Mr. Graves:
Whereas, since September 14, 1995, pursuant to Amendment No. 04 to Cooperative
Agreement No. NCR-9218742, Network Solutions, Inc. has charged user fees for the
registration services Network Solutions, Inc. performs for its domain name
registrants; and
Whereas, since September 14, 1995, pursuant to Amendment No. 04, Network
Solutions, Inc. has deposited 30% of the funds collected into a separate
interest-bearing account, to be used for the preservation and enhancement of the
"Intellectual Infrastructure" of the Internet; and
Whereas, to date, there has not been a final decision about appropriate
disbursements from the "Intellectual Infrastructure" account; and
Whereas, to date, no funds have been withdrawn from the account with the
exception of the one instance of transferring $23M to the National Science
Foundation pursuant to P.L. 105-65, the 1998 Appropriations Bill for the
National Science Foundation; and
Whereas, the Department of Commerce's draft paper entitled A Proposal to Improve
Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses states, "we believe the
provision in the cooperative agreement regarding allocation of a portion of the
registration fee to the Internet Intellectual Infrastructure Fund should
terminate on April 1, 1998."
NOW, THEREFORE, by this amendment, the National Science Foundation eliminates
the charging of the "Intellectual Infrastructure" portion of the registration
services fees, effective 11:59 p.m., March 31, 1998. By this amendment, the
National Science Foundation eliminates the requirement to deposit into the
"Intellectual Infrastructure" account an amount equal to 30% of the monies
collected with respect to second-level domain names registered and renewed by
Network Solutions, Inc on and after 12:00 a.m., April 1, 1998.
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The Agreement, as amended, is hereby further amended as follows:
1. Section G, ARTICLE 8. FUNDING is hereby amended to read:
G. Funding and Compensation:
1. Funding contained in the original cooperative agreement, and
as amended by Amendments No. 1, 2, and 3, shall apply for
the period January 1, 1993 through September 13, 1995.
2. The compensation provisions contained in Amendment 4 shall
apply for the period September 14, 1995 through March 31,
1998.
3. Effective April 1, 1998, the following compensation
provisions will apply:
a) In consideration of all work performed under
this Agreement, Awardee is authorized to impose
a user fee of $35/year per second level domain
name in .COM, ORG, NET, and .EDU. (The specifics
of the user fee charges include an initial
charge of $70 for new registrations, and $35 per
year payable on the anniversary date of the
original registration beginning at the end of
the second year and for every year thereafter.)
b) The funds collected by reason of charging the
user fee will be considered "Program Income"
under the terms of the Agreement, and all will
be available to Network Solutions, Inc. as
consideration for the services provided.
2. Effective April 1, 1998, ARTICLE 15.REVENUES FROM REGISTRATION FEES is
superseded and replaced by the following:
ARTICLE 15. REVENUES FROM REGISTRATION FEES
A. All income generated by user fees charged for registration
services shall be considered "Program Income" under the
terms of this Agreement, and will be available to Network
Solutions, Inc. as consideration for the services provided.
All other provisions of the Cooperative Agreement, as amended, remain in effect.
Please indicate your acceptance of this amendment by having it signed by an
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authorized official of your organization and returning one copy to me as soon
as possible.
Sincerely,
/s/ Karen L. Sandberg
Karen L. Sandberg
Grants and Agreements Officer
Accepted
/s/ D. M. Graves
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Signature
Director, Business Affairs
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Name and Title
March 12, 1998
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Date
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