IP: EDUCOM OFFERS TO MANAGE ".EDU" ADDRESSES from edupage -- hope

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Educom has offered to assume responsibility for overseeing all ".edu" e-mail
addresses -- a task currently performed by Network Solutions Inc. under
contract to the National Science Foundation.  That contract will expire this
March and a number of companies are vying for the opportunity to assign
Internet addresses.  If its proposal is approved, Educom would appoint a
"blue-ribbon panel" of college presidents and information officers to
determine whether applicants qualify for the .edu designation.  Network
Solutions recently made a statement to the effect that its system currently
is self-policing and that generally, anyone who applies for an .edu address
receives one -- a situation that has led to increased fraud on the Internet
as fly-by-night operations attempt to lure students for worthless diploma
programs.  (Chronicle of Higher Education 16 Jan 98)