Dave Farber writes:
>JUDGE THROWS OUT ANTITRUST SUIT AGAINST NETWORK SOLUTIONS
>A federal judge this week ruled that an antitrust lawsuit brought against
>Internet domain name registrar Network Solutions was invalid because the
>company is immune from antitrust liability under a legal doctrine known as
>"federal instrumentality." Network Solutions has been under contract to the
>National Science Foundation to perform the registration service, and
>therefore is entitled to the same antitrust immunity the government has,
>said the judge. The suit had been brought by PGMedia, which runs its own
>domain-name service, called "name.space." (Wall Street Journal 19 Mar 99)
Aside from the excellent question Dave asked, does the federal
instrumentality doctrine include the obligation for rulemaking prior to
policy changes, or due process prior to taking of "property?" (Note that
the Fairfax County Circuit Court (where NSI is located by the way) has
ruled that domain names can be the subject of garnishment)
