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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
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FORM 10-Q
(MARK ONE)
[X]
QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
FOR THE QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 1999MARCH 31, 2000
OR
[ ]
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM ________ TO ________
COMMISSION FILE NUMBER: 0-22967
NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
(EXACT NAME OF REGISTRANT AS SPECIFIED IN ITS CHARTER)
DELAWARE 52-1146119
(STATE OR OTHER JURISDICTION (I.R.S. EMPLOYER
OF INCORPORATION OR IDENTIFICATION NO.)
ORGANIZATION)
505 HUNTMAR PARK DRIVE
HERNDON, VIRGINIA 20170
(ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICES)
(703)742-0400
(REGISTRANT'S TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCLUDING AREA CODE)
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant:registrant: (1) has filed all reports
required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such
filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Yes [X] No [ ]
As of NovemberMay 10, 1999,2000, the Registrant had 33,419,15172,495,132 shares of common stock,
$0.001 par value per share, issued and outstanding.
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PAGE
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PART I FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements 3
Unaudited Condensed Statements of Financial Position as of 3
December 31, 19981999 and September 30, 1999 (Unaudited)............... 3March 31, 2000
Unaudited Condensed Statements of Operations for the three and nine4
months ended September 30, 1998March 31, 1999 and 1999......... 42000
Unaudited Condensed Statements of Changes in Stockholders' 5
Equity for the ninethree months ended September 30, 1999....... 5March 31, 2000
Unaudited Condensed Statements of Cash Flows for the ninethree 6
months ended September 30, 1998March 31, 1999 and 1999.................. 62000
Notes to Condensed Financial Statements.....................Statements 7
Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and 9
Results of Operations................................. 10Operations
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk...................................................... 27Risk 20
PART II OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings........................................... 28Proceedings 20
Item 2. Changes in Securities and Use of Proceeds................... 29Proceeds 21
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders......... 29Holders 21
Item 6. Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K............................ 29
Signature ............................................................ 308-K 21
Signature.......................................................................... 23
Index to Exhibits..................................................... 31Exhibits.................................................................. 24
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PART I FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION
DECEMBER 31, SEPTEMBER 30,
1998MARCH 31,
1999 2000
------------ ---------------------------
(UNAUDITED)
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents.................................equivalents ................................................ $196,589,000 $ 12,862,000 $ 98,863,000876,033,000
Short-term investments.................................... 118,808,000 99,090,000investments ................................................... 116,342,000 22,425,000
Accounts receivable, net.................................. 22,628,000 45,783,000net ................................................. 31,916,000 33,816,000
Income taxes receivable .................................................. 16,193,000 --
Prepaids and other assets................................. 4,001,000 13,415,000assets ................................................ 8,809,000 13,256,000
Deferred tax asset........................................ 40,508,000 81,920,000asset ....................................................... 100,997,000 125,397,000
------------ --------------------------
Total current assets........................................ 198,807,000 339,071,000assets ........................................... 470,846,000 1,070,927,000
Furniture and equipment, net................................ 16,005,000 54,688,000net ............................................. 57,406,000 62,063,000
Long-term investments....................................... 13,590,000 36,013,000investments .................................................... 62,475,000 75,549,000
Deferred tax asset.......................................... 14,831,000 29,990,000asset ....................................................... 28,197,000 41,018,000
Other long-term assets ................................................... - 1,270,000
Goodwill net............................................... 634,000 226,000and other, net .................................................. 6,379,000 5,667,000
------------ --------------------------
Total Assets................................................ $243,867,000 $459,988,000Assets ................................................... $625,303,000 $1,256,494,000
============ ==========================
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities..................liabilities ................................. $ 28,287,00053,204,000 $ 41,850,00050,275,000
Due to SAIC............................................... 4,766,000 6,578,000SAIC .............................................................. 30,177,000 11,154,000
Income taxes payable...................................... 5,409,000 8,767,000
Current portion of capital lease obligations.............. 834,000 436,000payable ..................................................... 1,045,000 13,206,000
Deferred revenue, net..................................... 93,720,000 200,160,000net .................................................... 255,307,000 334,096,000
------------ --------------------------
Total current liabilities................................... 133,016,000 257,791,000
Capital lease obligations................................... 247,000 --liabilities ...................................... 339,733,000 408,731,000
Long-term deferred revenue, net............................. 35,474,000 82,779,000net .......................................... 106,332,000 130,587,000
Other long-term liabilities .............................................. 639,000 555,000
------------ --------------------------
Total liabilities........................................... 168,737,000 340,570,000liabilities .............................................. 446,704,000 539,873,000
Commitments and contingencies...............................contingencies -- --
Stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock, $.001 par value, authorized
10,000,000 shares; none issued
and outstanding in 19981999 and 1999...2000 ....................................... -- --
Common stock, $.001 par value; authorized
210,000,000 shares; 33,381,16767,791,734 and 72,388,054 issued
and outstanding in 1999...... -- 33,000
Class A common stock, $.001 par value; authorized
100,000,000 shares in 1998; 9,140,000 issued1999 and outstanding in 1998.................................... 9,000 --
Class B common stock, $.001 par value; authorized
30,000,000 shares in 1998; 23,850,000 issued and
outstanding in 1998.................................... 24,000 --2000 ....................................... 68,000 72,000
Additional paid-in capital................................ 72,331,000 86,783,000capital ............................................... 117,289,000 645,219,000
Retained earnings......................................... 2,407,000 20,278,000earnings ........................................................ 29,259,000 43,955,000
Accumulated other comprehensive income.................... 359,000 12,324,000income ................................... 31,983,000 27,375,000
------------ --------------------------
Total stockholders' equity.................................. 75,130,000 119,418,000equity ..................................... 178,599,000 716,621,000
------------ --------------------------
Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity.................. $243,867,000 $459,988,000Equity ..................... $625,303,000 $1,256,494,000
============ ==========================
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(UNAUDITED)
THREE MONTHS ENDED
NINE MONTHS ENDED
SEPTEMBER 30, SEPTEMBER 30,
------------------------- --------------------------
1998MARCH 31,
---------
1999 1998 1999
----------- ----------- ----------- ------------2000
---- ----
Net revenue.............................. $25,427,000 $59,254,000 $62,395,000 $144,885,000revenue .......................................... $ 38,132,000 $ 98,171,000
Cost of revenue.......................... 10,312,000 21,788,000 26,451,000 54,040,000
----------- ----------- -----------revenue ...................................... 14,541,000 35,479,000
------------ ------------
Gross profit............................. 15,115,000 37,466,000 35,944,000 90,845,000profit ......................................... 23,591,000 62,692,000
Research and development expenses........ 1,353,000 2,870,000 2,893,000 7,365,000expenses .................... 2,035,000 4,545,000
Selling, general and administrative expenses............................... 10,248,000 24,921,000 24,438,000 59,581,000expenses ......... 15,265,000 42,699,000
Interest income.......................... (1,680,000) (2,455,000) (4,423,000) (6,312,000)income ...................................... (1,930,000) (9,351,000)
Other expenses........................... 26,000 11,000 93,000 45,000
----------- ----------- -----------expenses ....................................... 19,000 4,000
------------ ------------
Income before income taxes............... 5,168,000 12,119,000 12,943,000 30,166,000taxes ........................... 8,202,000 24,795,000
Provision for income taxes............... 2,163,000 4,841,000 5,426,000 12,295,000
----------- ----------- -----------taxes ........................... 3,404,000 10,099,000
------------ ------------
Net income...............................income ........................................... $ 3,005,0004,798,000 $ 7,278,000 $ 7,517,000 $ 17,871,000
=========== =========== ===========14,696,000
============ ============
Earnings per common share:
Basic..................................Basic .............................................. $ 0.09 $ 0.22 $ 0.24 $ 0.54
=========== =========== =========== ============
Diluted................................ $ 0.090.07 $ 0.21
============ ============
Diluted ............................................ $ 0.230.07 $ 0.51
=========== =========== ===========0.20
============ ============
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
(UNAUDITED)
ACCUMULATED
CLASS A CLASS BOTHER
COMMON STOCK ADDITIONAL OTHERCOMPRE- COMPRE- TOTAL
COMMON COMMON COMMON---------------------- PAID-IN COMPREHENSIVE RETAINED COMPREHENSIVEHENSIVE HENSIVE STOCKHOLDERS'
STOCK STOCK STOCKSHARES AMOUNT CAPITAL INCOME EARNINGS INCOME INCOME EQUITY
----------------- -------- -------- ----------- ------------- ----------- ------------------------- ------------ ------------ ------------ -------------
Balance, December 31, 1998.................1999.... 67,792,000 $ --68,000 $117,289,000 $ 9,00029,259,000 $ 24,000 $72,331,000 $ 359,000 $ 2,407,000 $ -- $ 75,130,00031,983,000 $178,599,000
Issuance of common
stock pursuant to
stock plans.......... -- -- -- 3,726,000 -- -- -- 3,726,000plans.................. 277,000 5,483,000 5,483,000
Tax benefit associated
with stock plans..... -- -- -- 10,726,000 -- -- -- 10,726,000
Conversionplans............. 11,459,000 11,459,000
Issuance of Class B
common stock......... -- 24,000 (24,000) -- -- -- -- --
Reclassification of
Class A common
stock................ 33,000 (33,000) -- -- -- -- -- --
Comprehensive income:stock
pursuant to secondary
offering..................... 4,319,000 4,000 510,988,000 510,992,000
Net income for the
period ended September 30, 1999... -- -- -- -- -- 17,871,000 17,871,000 17,871,000March 31,
2000......................... 14,696,000 $14,696,000 14,696,000
Other comprehensive
income, net of tax:
Unrealized gainsloss on
securities........... -- -- -- -- 11,965,000 -- 11,965,000 11,965,000
-----------securities................... (4,608,000) (4,608,000) (4,608,000)
-------------
Comprehensive income... -- -- -- -- -- -- $29,836,000 --
-------income.......... $10,088,000
---------- -------- -------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ===========------------ ------------ ------------ ============= ------------
Balance, September 30,
1999................. $33,000March 31, 2000 72,388,000 $ --72,000 $645,219,000 $ -- $86,783,000 $12,324,000 $20,278,000 $119,418,000
=======43,955,000 $ 27,375,000 $716,621,000
========== ======== ======== =========== =========== ======================= ============ ============ ============
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(UNAUDITED)
NINETHREE MONTHS ENDED
SEPTEMBER 30,
---------------------------
1998MARCH 31,
---------------------------------
1999 2000
------------ -------------------------
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net income................................................income ......................................................... $ 7,517,0004,798,000 $ 17,871,00014,696,000
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided
by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization.......................... 2,613,000 6,440,000
Provision for uncollectible accounts receivable........ 2,168,000 --amortization ................................... 1,474,000 4,324,000
Deferred income taxes.................................. (14,061,000) (64,876,000)taxes ........................................... (25,271,000) (33,245,000)
Tax benefit associated with stock plans................ 2,240,000 10,726,000plans ......................... 2,906,000 11,459,000
Change in operating assets and liabilities:
Increase in accounts receivable...................... (10,298,000) (23,155,000)receivable ............................... (13,117,000) (1,900,000)
Decrease in income taxes receivable ........................... -- 16,193,000
Increase in prepaids and other assets................ (507,000) (9,414,000)assets ......................... (1,888,000) (5,717,000)
Increase (decrease) in accounts payable and accrued liabilities....................................... 9,139,000 13,563,000liabilities 843,000 (3,013,000)
Increase (decrease) in income taxes payable.......... (1,952,000) 3,358,000payable .............................. 23,936,000 12,161,000
Increase in deferred revenue......................... 45,279,000 153,745,000revenue .................................. 39,168,000 103,044,000
------------ -------------------------
Net cash provided by operating activities............ 42,138,000 108,258,000activities ..................... 32,849,000 118,002,000
------------ -------------------------
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Purchase of furniture and equipment....................... (5,639,000) (44,717,000)equipment ................................ (16,557,000) (8,269,000)
Redemption (purchase) of short-term investments, net...... (67,676,000) 21,223,000net ............... (1,821,000) 92,259,000
Purchase of long-term investments......................... (6,012,000) (11,656,000)
Proceeds from maturity of long-term investments net...... -- 8,000,000.................................. (2,000,000) (20,000,000)
------------ -------------------------
Net cash used inprovided by (used in) investing activities................ (79,327,000) (27,150,000)activities ........... (20,378,000) 63,990,000
------------ -------------------------
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Net transactions with SAIC................................ 1,337,000 1,812,000
RepaymentSAIC ......................................... (188,000) (19,023,000)
Issuance of capital lease obligations.................... (626,000) (645,000)common stock pursuant to secondary offering ............ -- 510,992,000
Issuance of common stock pursuant to stock plans.......... 4,456,000 3,726,000plans ................... 1,809,000 5,483,000
------------ -------------------------
Net cash provided by financing activities............ 5,167,000 4,893,000activities ..................... 1,621,000 497,452,000
------------ -------------------------
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents........ (32,022,000) 86,001,000equivalents ............................ 14,092,000 679,444,000
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period.............. 41,146,000period ....................... 12,862,000 196,589,000
------------ -------------------------
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period....................period ............................. $ 9,124,00026,954,000 $ 98,863,000876,033,000
============ =========================
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
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NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(UNAUDITED)
NOTE 1 -- ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS
Network Solutions, Inc. ("Network Solutions") currently acts as the
exclusive registry and as a registrar of Internet domain names within the .com,
.org, .net and .edu top level domains pursuant to the Cooperative Agreementagreements with ICANN and the
Department of Commerce.Commerce (for further information, please see "Overview" on page
9 herein). Domain names are used to identify a unique site or presence on the
Internet. As registry and a registrar for these top level domains, Network
Solutions registers new domain names and is responsible for the maintenance of
the master file of domain names through daily updates to the Internet. Network
Solutions also provides Internet Technology Services, focusing on network engineering, networkarchitecture,
implementation and systems securitysupport services to help large enterprises and network management
solutions.Internet
service providers improve their operational effectiveness.
NOTE 2 -- SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The interim financial statements have been prepared by Network Solutions
without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC"). In the opinion of management, financial statements
included in this report reflect all normal recurring adjustments which Network
Solutions considers necessary for fair presentation of the results of operations
for the interim periods covered and of the financial position of Network
Solutions at the date of the interim balance sheet. Certain information and
footnote disclosures normally included in the annual financial statements
prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles have been
condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. However, Network
Solutions believes that the disclosures are adequate for understanding the
information presented. The operating results for interim periods are not
necessarily indicative of the operating results for the entire year. These
interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with Network
Solutions' December 31, 19981999 audited financial statements and notes thereto
included in Network Solutions' Form 10-K annual report for the year ended
December 31, 1998.1999. Prior periods have been restatedreclassified for comparative
purposes.
NOTE 3 -- COMMON STOCK
STOCK SPLIT
On December 31, 1998,21, 1999, Network Solutions' boardBoard of directorsDirectors approved a
two-for-one stock split of the shares of Class A common stock and Class Bits common stock, to be effected in the form of a
100% stock dividend on shares of Class A
common stock and Class B common stock outstanding on February 26, 1999.25, 2000.
The stock dividend was distributed on March 23, 1999.10, 2000. Share and per share
information for all periods presented in the accompanying financial statements
have been adjusted to reflect the two-for-one stock split.
SECONDARY STOCK OFFERING
AND STOCK RECLASSIFICATION
On February 12, 1999,8, 2000, Network Solutions completed a secondary stock offering in
which a total of 9,160,00017,779,000 shares of Class A common stock were sold. Concurrent withOf the offering, Science Applications Internationalshares
sold, Network Solutions sold 4,319,000 shares, SAIC Venture Capital Corporation
commonly known as "SAIC", converted 9,000,000sold 13,400,000 shares of Class B common stock
into 9,000,000 shares of Class A common stock sold in the offering. The
remaining 160,000 shares of Class A common stock were sold byand other selling stockholders after they exercised the applicable stock options simultaneously
with the closing of the offering.sold 60,000 shares. Total
net proceeds to Network Solutions was not a selling
stockholder, and, therefore, did not receive any proceeds from the stock
offering other than proceeds from options exercised as part of the offering.
Afterapproximately $511 million. Subsequent to
the offering, SAIC ownedVenture Capital Corporation owns approximately 89%23% of
the combined voting power
and approximately 45% of the economic interest of theNetwork Solutions' outstanding common stock.
On June 3, 1999, SAIC, the sole Class B common stock shareholder, converted
the remaining Class B common stock into an identical number of shares of Class A
common stock. As a result, SAIC's voting power changed from 89% to 45%,
consistent with the number of Class A shares owned after the conversion. On
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NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS -- (CONTINUED)
NOTE 3 -- COMMON STOCK -- (CONTINUED)
June 17, 1999, Network Solutions filed a Certificate of Amendment of Second
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation whereby its Class A common
stock, par value $0.001 per share, and Class B common stock, par value $0.001
per share, were reclassified as a single class of common stock, par value $0.001
per share, the "Common Stock". At the time of the reclassification of the Class
A common stock and Class B common stock to Common Stock, there were 33,312,594
shares of Class A common stock and no shares of Class B common stock
outstanding.
The Certificate of Amendment also increased the total number of authorized
shares of Network Solutions, Inc. to 220,000,000 of which 210,000,000 shares are
authorized shares of Common Stock and 10,000,000 shares are authorized shares of
preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share. There are no shares of preferred
stock outstanding.
NOTE 4 -- COMPUTATION OF EARNINGS PER SHARE
The following is a reconciliation of the numerator and denominator used in
the basic and diluted earnings per share computations:
INCOME SHARES PER SHARE
(NUMERATOR) (DENOMINATOR) AMOUNT
----------- ------------- ---------
THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30,MARCH 31, 1999
Basic............................................Basic ........................... $ 7,278,000 33,347,000 $0.22
=====4,798,000 66,242,000 $ 0.07
========
Dilutive securities:
Outstanding options............................options ........... -- 1,377,0003,228,000
----------- ----------
Diluted..........................................Diluted ......................... $ 7,278,000 34,724,000 $0.214,798,000 69,470,000 $ 0.07
=========== ========== =============
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THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 1998
Basic............................................MARCH 31, 2000
Basic ........................... $14,696,000 70,440,000 $ 3,005,000 32,082,000 $0.09
=====0.21
========
Dilutive securities:
Outstanding options............................options ........... -- 1,410,0004,486,000
----------- ----------
Diluted..........................................Diluted ......................... $14,696,000 74,926,000 $ 3,005,000 33,492,000 $0.090.20
=========== ========== =====
NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 1999
Basic............................................ $17,871,000 33,251,000 $0.54
=====
Dilutive securities:
Outstanding options............................ -- 1,476,000
----------- ----------
Diluted.......................................... $17,871,000 34,727,000 $0.51
=========== ========== =====
NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 1998
Basic............................................ $ 7,517,000 31,776,000 $0.24
=====
Dilutive securities:
Outstanding options............................ -- 1,312,000
----------- ----------
Diluted.......................................... $ 7,517,000 33,088,000 $0.23
=========== ========== =============
Common shares issued are weighted for the period the shares were
outstanding and incremental shares assumed issued under the treasury stock
method for diluted earnings per share are weighted for the period the underlying
options were outstanding.
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NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS -- (CONTINUED)
NOTE 5 -- ACCUMULATED OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME BALANCES
The changes in the components of accumulated other comprehensive income, net of
income taxes, for the three and nine months ended September 30,March 31, 2000 and March 31, 1999 and
September 30, 1998 are
as follows:
1999 2000
--------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------
UNREALIZED GAINS (LOSSES)ACCUMULATED OTHER UNREALIZED GAINSLOSSES ACCUMULATED OTHER
ON SECURITIES COMPREHENSIVE INCOME ON SECURITIES THREE MONTHS ENDED NINE MONTHS ENDED
SEPTEMBER 30, SEPTEMBER 30,
------------------------- ----------------------
1998 1999 1998 1999
---------- ------------ -------- -----------COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
---------------- -------------------- ----------------- --------------------
Pre-tax amount........................ $(107,000) $(7,298,000) $260,000 $20,270,000amount ............ $38,547,000 $38,547,000 $(8,583,000) $45,623,000
Income taxes.......................... (36,000) (3,272,000) 109,000 8,305,000
---------tax ................ 16,189,000 16,189,000 (3,975,000) 18,248,000
----------- ------------------- ----------- -----------
Net of tax amount..................... $ (71,000) $(4,026,000) $151,000 $11,965,000
=========amount ......... $22,358,000 $22,358,000 $(4,608,000) $27,375,000
=========== =================== =========== ===========
NOTE 6 -- SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
STATUSPROPOSED ACQUISITION OF PRIVITIZATION ADMINISTRATIONNETWORK SOLUTIONS BY VERISIGN, INC.
On November 10, 1999,March 7, 2000, VeriSign, Inc., the leading provider of Internet trust
services, and Network Solutions announced the signing of a seriesdefinitive agreement
for VeriSign to acquire Network Solutions in an all-stock purchase transaction.
Under the agreement, VeriSign will issue 1.075 shares of wide-ranging agreements were entered intoVeriSign common stock
for each share of Network Solutions Common Stock. The transaction has been
approved by both companies' Boards of Directors and is subject to approval by
VeriSign and Network Solutions shareholders. After the merger, VeriSign
stockholders will own approximately 60% of the combined company while Network
Solutions shareholders will own approximately 40% of the combined company.
On May 9, 2000, VeriSign and Network Solutions announced that the
companies' Joint Proxy Statement relating to the domain name system. These agreements consistproposed merger of the following:
- A registry agreement betweentwo
companies had been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission
and filed electronically. In addition, VeriSign and Network Solutions andalso
announced that on May 5, 2000, the Internet
CorporationDepartment of Justice granted early
termination of the waiting periods for Assigned Namesthe antitrust review of the proposed
merger under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.
Proxy materials were mailed to shareholders on May 8, 2000. Both VeriSign
and Numbers ("ICANN") under which Network Solutions will continuehold shareholders meetings on June 8, 2000 for
shareholders of record on May 3, 2000 to act asvote on the exclusive registrymerger. If shareholder
approval is obtained, the merger is expected to close shortly thereafter.
NOTE 7-- COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
On March 15, 2000, a group of eight plaintiffs filed suit against the U.S.
Department of Commerce, the National Science Foundation and Network Solutions in
the United States District Court for the .com,
.netNorthern District of California. The
case, entitled William Hoefer et al. v. U.S. Department of Commerce, et al.,
Civil Action No. 000918-VRW, challenges the lawfulness of the registration fees
that we were authorized to charge for domain name registrations from September
1995 to November 1999. The suit purports to be brought on behalf of all domain
name registrants who paid registration fees during that period and .org top level domains for at least four more years.
- A revised registrar accreditation agreement between ICANNseeks
approximately $1.7 billion in damages. All of the defendants have been served
with the complaint, and all
registrars registering nameshave filed motions to transfer the suit to the Federal
District Court in the .com, .net and .org domains.
- A revised registrar license and agreement betweenDistrict of Columbia. The same attorney who unsuccessfully
challenged us in a similar action known as Thomas, et al. v. Network Solutions,
et al., filed this new action on behalf of eight former and current domain name
registrants. The suit contains eight causes of action against the defendants
based on alleged violations of Art. I, Section 8 and the Fifth Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution, the Independent Offices Appropriations Act (31 U.S.C. Section
9701), the Administrative Procedure Act, the Sherman Act, and the California
Unfair Competition Act, Section 17200. Network Solutions believes that the
complaint lacks merit and intends to vigorously defend itself as registry and all registrars registering namesit did in
the .com, .net and .org
domains using Network Solutions' proprietary shared registration system.
- Amendment 19response to the Cooperative Agreement.
- An amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") between the U.S.
Government and ICANN.
Under these agreements Network Solutions has recognized ICANN as the
not-for-profit corporation described in Amendment 11 to the Cooperative
Agreement, has become an ICANN-accredited registrar and has agreed to operate
the registry in accordance with the provisions of the registry agreement and the
consensus policies established by ICANN in accordance with the terms of that
agreement. Network Solutions will be an accredited registrar through NovemberThomas case.
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2004 with a right to renew indefinitely. As the registry, Network Solutions will
continue to charge registrars $9 per registration-year until January 15, 2000.
Thereafter, the fee will be $6 per registration-year unless increased to cover
increases in registry costs under the circumstances described in the registry
agreement.
The term of the registry agreement extends until November 9, 2003, except
that if the ownership of Network Solutions' registry and registrar operations is
separated within 18 months as described in the agreement, the registry agreement
term would be extended for four additional years.
Network Solutions has agreed to pay annual fees set by ICANN at levels not
to exceed $2 million for Network Solutions registrar and $250,000 for the
Network Solutions registry.
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10
ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS
OF OPERATIONS.
This quarterly report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements. For
this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of
historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Statements
regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Network Solutions are
intended to be forward-looking statements which may involve risk and
uncertainty. There are a number of factors that could cause Network Solutions'
actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-
looking statements, including, but not limited to, those discussed in "Part I --
Item 1 -- Business -- Risk Factors" and "Part II -- Item 7 -- Management's
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations --
Factors Affecting Operating Results" contained in Network Solutions' 19981999 Form
10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 30, 1999.2000. In
addition, set forth below under the heading "Factors Affecting Operating
Results" is a further discussion of certain of those risks as they relate to the
period covered by this report, Network Solutions' near-term outlook with respect
thereto, and the forward-looking statements set forth herein; however, the
absence in this quarterly report of a complete recitation of or update to all
risk factors identified in the 19981999 Form 10-K should not be interpreted as
modifying or superseding any such risk factors, except to the extent set forth
below. Investors should review this quarterly report in combination with Network
Solutions' 19981999 Form 10-K in order to have a more complete understanding of the
principal risks associated with an investment in Network Solutions' common
stock.
OVERVIEW
Network Solutions currently acts asis the exclusive registry and as athe leading registrar of Internetfor
second level domain names within the .com, .net .org and .edu.org top level domains
pursuant to a series of wide-ranging agreements with ICANN and the Department of Commerce that were entered into on November 10, 1999. DomainCommerce. Internet
domain names are usedunique identities which enable businesses, other organizations
and individuals to identify a unique site or presencecommunicate and conduct commerce on the Internet. As registry and
a
registrar for these top level domains,registry, Network Solutions registers new domain
names, maintains the master filedirectory of all second level
domain names in the .com, .net and updates.org top level domains. Network Solutions
owns and maintains the shared registration system that allows all registrars,
including Network Solutions, to enter new second level domain names into the
master filedirectory and to submit modifications, transfers, re-registrations and
deletions for existing second level domain names. As a registrar, Network
Solutions markets second level domain name registration services that enable
Network Solutions' customers to establish their identities on the Internet daily.web. In
addition, Network Solutions markets a portfolio of value-added products and
services to help customers maximize the value of those identities throughout
their life cycles. Network Solutions also provides Internet Technology
Services, focusingtechnology services
that focus on network engineering, network and systems security and network
management solutions.
Registration Services. In December 1992, Network Solutions entered into the
Cooperative Agreement with the National Science Foundation under which Network
Solutions was to provide Internet domain name registration services for five top
level domains: .com, .net, .org, .net, .edu and .gov. These registration services
include the initial two year domain name registration and annual
re-registration, and throughout the registration term, maintenance of and
unlimited modifications to individual domain name records and updates to the
master file of domain names. The Cooperative Agreement became effective January
1, 1993. It included a three-month phase-in period, a five-year operational
period, commencing April 1, 1993 and ending March 31, 1998, and a six-month
flexibility period through September 30, 1998. Effective September 9, 1998, the
Department of Commerce took over the administration of the Cooperative Agreement
from the National Science Foundation. In October 1998, the Cooperative Agreement
was amended to extend the flexibility period until September 30, 2000 and to
transition to a shared registration system.
The original termsOn November 10, 1999, Network Solutions, the Department of Commerce and
ICANN entered into a series of wide-ranging agreements relating to the domain
name system. Under these agreements Network Solutions recognized ICANN as the
not-for-profit corporation described in Amendment 11 to the Cooperative
Agreement; has become an ICANN-accredited registrar and has agreed to operate
the registry in accordance with the provisions of the Cooperative Agreement provided for a cost
reimbursement plus fixed-fee contract. Effective September 14, 1995,registry agreement and the
National Science Foundation and Network Solutions amended the Cooperative
Agreement to require Network Solutions to begin charging end users a services
fee of $50 per year for each domain nameconsensus policies established by ICANN in the .com, .org and .net top level
domains. Thus, prior to April 1, 1998, registrants paid a services fee of $100
for two years of domain name services upon each initial registration and an
annual re-registration fee of $50 per year thereafter. The National Science
Foundation paid the registration fees for domain names within the .edu and .gov
top level domains through March 31, 1997. Commencing April 1, 1997, Network
Solutions agreedaccordance with the National Science Foundation to provide domain name
services within the .edu and .gov top level domains free of charge. As of
October 1, 1997, Network Solutions no longer registers or administers domain
names in the .gov top level domain.
Under the terms of that
agreement. Network Solutions will be an accredited registrar through November 9,
2004 with a right to renew indefinitely in accordance with the September 14, 1995 amendmentagreement. As the
registry, Network Solutions charged registrars $9 per registration per year
until January 15, 2000. Since then, the fee is $6 per registration per year
unless increased to cover increases in registry costs under the Cooperative
Agreement, 30%circumstances
described in the registry agreement.
Network Solutions has recently implemented a system under which it will
not accept the registration of a domain name as a registrar unless it has
received a reasonable assurance of payment of the registration fees collected byfee. Network
Solutions was
requiredis entitled to be set asideestablish its own prices for the enhancement of theregistrar services.
9
10 11
intellectual infrastructure of the Internet and, as such, was not recognized as
revenue by Network Solutions. The set aside funds, plus any interest earned,
were disbursed at the direction of the National Science Foundation. As of
December 31, 1998, the Company had cumulatively disbursed to the National
Science Foundation at its direction all set aside funds collected and associated
interest earned for a total of $62.3 million.
On March 12, 1998, the National Science Foundation and Network Solutions
amended the Cooperative Agreement to eliminate the 30% set aside requirement
effective April 1, 1998 and to reduce the registration fees by a corresponding
amount. Initial registrations on and after April 1, 1998 are charged $70 for two
years of registration services and an annual renewal fee of $35 per year
thereafter. This amendment had no effect on the revenue recognized on each
registration ($70 for initial registrations and $35 for renewals), since Network
Solutions previously did not recognize revenue on the 30% set aside funds.
Accordingly, while the revenue to Network Solutions on a per registration basis
did not change, the amount charged to customers declined.
In order to provide prompt access to new domain names on the Internet,
Network Solutions generally invoices customers and permits them to pay their
registration fees after their domain names are registered. Network Solutions'
experience has been that, for the period from September 1995 through September
1999, approximately 35% of registrations have ultimately been deactivated for
non-payment. Network Solutions believes that this level of uncollectible
receivables is due to, among other factors, the large number of individuals and
corporations that have registered multiple domain names with the apparent
intention of reselling such names at a profit. Such speculative resellers have a
greater tendency than other customers to default on their registration fees. As
a consequence,
Network Solutions has recordedimplemented modifications to the shared registration
system that enable a comparable provision for
uncollectible accountsregistrar to (a) accept registrations and re-registrations
in determining netone-year increments and (b) add one year to a registrant's registration
revenue.
Registration fees chargedperiod upon transfer of a registration from one registrar to end users for registration services, netanother. The
unexpired term of any 30% set aside funds, are recognized as revenue evenly over the registration term. Accordingly,may not exceed ten years. Network Solutions
recognizes $70 on a straight-line basis
overis contractually obligated to provide equivalent access to the two-year services period for each basic initial domain nameshared
registration equivalentsystem to $35 per year. Annual re-registrationsall ICANN-accredited registrars and to ensure that the
revenues and assets of basic
domain name registrationsthe registry are recorded as revenue based upon $35 recognized on a
straight-line basis overnot utilized to advantage our registrar
to the one-year services period. This subscription-based
model defers revenue recognition untildetriment of other registrars. Network Solutions provideshas agreed to and has
implemented an organizational conflict of interest compliance plan that includes
organizational, physical and procedural safeguards in connection with these
obligations.
The term of the registration services, including maintenance of and unlimited modifications to
individual domain name records, overregistry agreement extends until November 9, 2003, except
in the respective registration terms. At
September 30, 1999,event that Network Solutions had net deferred revenueeffects the legal separation of $283 million.the
ownership of its registry business from its registrar business by May 9, 2001 as
described in the agreement, then the term will be extended until November 9,
2007.
Network Solutions has agreed to pay annual fees to ICANN as set by ICANN at
levels currently not to exceed $2 million for our registrar and $250,000 for our
registry.
Internet Technology Services. Substantially all of Network Solutions'
Internet Technology Servicestechnology services revenue is derived from professional services which
are generally provided to clients on a time and expense basis and is recognized
as services are performed.
The majority of Network Solutions' Internet Technology Services are
provided to customers in the financial services industry. Bank of America,
formerly NationsBanc, is currently Network Solutions' largest Internet
Technology Services client, accounting for 58.8% of Network Solutions' Internet
Technology Services business net revenue and 2.8% of Network Solutions' total
net revenue for the three months ended September 30, 1999. NationsBanc
originally contracted with Network Solutions in 1993 and Network Solutions
currently provides network design and engineering services as well as a variety
of project specific services under the contract.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Net Revenue. Net revenue increased 133%157% from $25.4$38.1 million for the three
months ended September 30, 1998March 31, 1999 to $59.3$98.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 1999.March
31, 2000. This increase in net revenue was primarily attributable to the
increase in the number of domain name registrations, principally in the .com top
level domain. Net revenue from registration services increased 144%175% from $23.1$34.8
million for the three months ended September 30, 1998March 31, 1999 to $56.4$95.8 million for the three
months ended September 30, 1999.March 31, 2000. Net new registrations for Network Solutions'
Registrar (NSI Registrar)services, or NSI registrar, increased 160%113% from 507,000922,000 for the three
months ended September 30, 1998March 31, 1999 to 1,318,0001,962,000 for the three months ended September 30, 1999.March 31,
2000. This also represents a 12%21% increase over the 1,180,0001,617,000 net new
registrations for the three months ended June 30,December 31, 1999. NSI RegistrarThere were 785,000
international net new registrations during the three months ended March 31,
2000, an increase of 241% over the 230,000 international net new registrations
for the three months ended March 31, 1999. As a percentage of total
registrations, international registrations totaled 406,000 inrose from 25% for the third quarter ofthree months
ended March 31, 1999 up
194% fromto 40% for the 11
12
third quarter of 1998 total of 138,000.three months ended March 31, 2000.
Non-NSI registrars registered an additional 190,0003,075,000 names with Network Solutions'through our
registry services, bringing the total net new registrations for the quarterthree months
ended March 31, 2000 in the .com, .net and .org top level domains to 1.5 million.5,037,000.
Growth in net registrations continues to be driven by the widespread use
and adoption by businesses of the Internet and Intranets on a global basis.
In addition, value added services were sold to approximately 15%
of NSI Registrar's 1,318,000 new registrations in the third quarter. These value
added services present potential growth areas for Network Solutions. Cumulative net registrations for the NSI Registrarregistrar as of September 30, 1998March 31, 1999 were
2,777,0004,225,000 as compared to 6,528,0009,884,000 as of September 30, 1999,March 31, 2000, for a 135%134% increase. In
addition, this growth in cumulative net registrations represents a 23% increase
in NSI Registrar'sNetwork Solutions' entire customer base since June 30,December 31, 1999.
Net revenue from Internet Technology Services increased 26%decreased 27% from $2.3$3.3
million for the three months ended September 30, 1998March 31, 1999 to $2.9$2.4 million for the three
months ended September 30, 1999. This represents a 7% increase in net
revenue from Internet Technology Services from the three months ended June 30,
1999. Bank of America accounted for $1.7 million or 2.8% of Network Solutions'
total net revenue for the three months ended September 30, 1999 and $1.2 million
or 4.7% for the three months ended September 30, 1998.
Net revenue increased 132% from $62.4 million for the nine months ended
September 30, 1998 to $144.9 million for the nine months ended September 30,
1999. This increase in net revenue was primarily attributable to the increase in
the number of domain name registrations, principally in the .com top level
domain. Net revenue from registration services increased 136% from $57.7 million
for the nine months ended September 30, 1998 to $136.1 million for the nine
months ended September 30, 1999.
Net new registrations for NSI Registrar during the nine month period ended
September 30, 1999 were 3.4 million as compared to 1.3 million during the nine
month period ended September 30, 1998, an increase of 162%. Due in part to the
addition of nearly 40 international partners, 1.0 million, or 30%, of net new
registrations were international registrations for the nine months ended
September 30, 1999.
Net revenue from Internet Technology Services increased 89% from $4.7
million for the nine months ended September 30, 1998 to $8.9 million for the
nine months ended September 30, 1999. This was primarily attributable to an
increase in business from Bank of America and other financial services
customers. Bank of America accounted for $3.5 million or 2.4% of Network
Solutions' total net revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 1999, and
$2.3 million or 3.7% for nine months ended September 30, 1998.March 31, 2000.
Cost of Revenue. Cost of revenue consists primarily of salaries and
employee benefits, fees paid to subcontractors for work performed in connection
with revenue producing projects, depreciation and equipment costs, lease costs
of the operations infrastructure and the associated operating overhead. Cost of
revenue increased 112%144% from $10.3$14.5 million for the three months ended September
30, 1998March 31,
1999 to $21.8$35.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 1999.March 31, 2000. The increase
was primarily driven by the growthdue to increased staffing charges of Network Solutions' registration
business which experienced$10.5 million, $7.9 million
of additional outsourcing costs, of $3.8 million in
support of invoicing, collection and processing activities, $3 million in additional depreciation charges and equipment expenditures and additional direct
labor charges of $3.2 million related to systems engineering and operations.$2.2 million.
As a percentage of net revenue, cost of revenue decreased from 40.6%38.1% for
the three months ended September 30, 1998March 31, 1999 to 36.7%36% for the three months ended September 30, 1999.March
31, 2000. This decrease primarily reflects certain economies of scale that
Network Solutions has continued to achieverealized due to the growth of its subscription-based domain name registration
business. In the near term, the
continued need for back office investments is expected to partially offset
future margin improvements arising from economies of scale.
Cost of revenue increased 104% from $26.5 million for the nine months ended
September 30, 1998 to $54.0 million for the nine months ended September 30,
1999. This increase was driven by a $10.1 million increase in outsourcing costs
and $6 million in additional depreciation charges and equipment expenditures and
additional direct labor charges of $7.6 million related to systems engineering
and operations primarily associated with supporting the growth of Network
Solutions' registration services business.
As a percentage of net revenue,We expect that cost of revenue decreased from 42.4% forwill increase in terms of absolute
dollars as we continue to enhance and improve the nine months ended September 30, 1998 to 37.3% for the nine months ended
September 30, 1999 reflecting economies of scale achieved in Network Solutions'infrastructure supporting our
product and service offerings, customer service capabilities
10
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and growing registration business.
12
13base.
Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses
consist primarily of compensation expenses to support the creation, development
and enhancement of Network Solutions' productsservices and technologies. Research and
development expenses increased 107%123% from $1.4$2.0 million for the three months ended
September 30, 1998March 31, 1999 to $2.9$4.5 million for the three months ended September 30,
1999. To date, all significantMarch 31, 2000. As a
percentage of net revenue, research and development costs have been expensed
as incurred.expenses were 5.3% and 4.6%
for the three months ended March 31, 1999 and 2000, respectively. Network
Solutions expects that the level of research and development expenses will
continue to increase in the near future in absolute dollars as Network Solutions
invests in developing new product and service offerings.
As a percentage of net revenue, research and development expenses
were 5.3% and 4.8% for the three months ended September 30, 1998 and 1999,
respectively.
Research and development expenses increased 155% from $2.9 million for the
nine months ended September 30, 1998 to $7.4 million for the nine months ended
September 30, 1999. As a percentage of net revenue, research and development
expenses increased from 4.6% for the nine months ended September 30, 1998 to
5.1% for the nine months ended September 30, 1999.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. Selling, general and
administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries of business development,
general management, administrative and financial personnel, marketing and sales
expenses,
corporate services from SAIC, legal and other professional costs.costs and amortization of goodwill
associated with Network Solutions' acquisition of ImageCafe. Selling, general
and administrative expenses increased 144%180% from $10.2$15.3 million for the three
months ended September 30, 1998March 31, 1999 to $24.9$42.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 1999.March
31, 2000. The increase was primarily attributable to a $8.1$19.9 million increase in
marketing and business development expenses including a $16.5 million increase
in television and Internet banner advertising and targeted direct mail campaigns, increasedadvertising. In addition, staffing expenses
of $2.3 million and an increase of other professional costs of
$2.7increased by $2.6 million.
As a percentage of net revenue, selling, general and administrative
expenses increased from 40.3%40.0% for the three months ended September 30, 1998March 31, 1999 to 42.1%43.5%
for the three months ended September 30, 1999.
Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 144% from $24.4
million for the nine months ended September 30, 1998 to $59.6 million for the
nine months ended September 30, 1999. This increase was primarily attributable
to a $22.4 million increase in marketing and business development expenses
including Internet banner advertising and targeted direct mail campaigns,
increased staffing expenses of $4.3 million and an increase of other
professional costs of $5 million.
As a percentage of net revenue, selling, general and administrative
expenses increased from 39.2% for the nine months ended September 30, 1998 to
41.1% for the nine months ended September 30, 1999.March 31, 2000.
Network Solutions expects that the level of selling, general and
administrative expenses will continue to increase significantly in the near
future in terms of absolute dollars and as a percent of revenues as operations
continue to expand. In particular, sales, marketing and business development
expenses will increase as NSI RegistrarNetwork Solutions continues to promote the value of
a .com and .net web addressaddresses and other new
Internet-based value-added services including web site
design and enhanced value added service offerings. NSI RegistrarNetwork Solutions also plans
to continue to develop and enhance its extensive partner and distribution
channels, both domestically and internationally, in light of the new competitive
environment.
Interest Income. Network Solutions had net interest income of $1.7$1.9 million
for the three months ended September 30, 1998March 31, 1999 as compared to $2.5$9.4 million for the
three months ended September 30, 1999.
Network Solutions had netMarch 31, 2000. The increase in interest income of $4.4 million for the nine
months ended September 30, 1998 as compared to $6.3 million for the nine months
ended September 30, 1999. The increase for both the three month and nine month
comparisons is attributabledue
primarily to the investment of the net proceeds of Network
Solutions' initial publicthe secondary offering as well as
positivethe investment of cash flow resultinggenerated from increasing domain name registrations.operations.
Income Taxes. The provision for income taxes was 42%41.5% of pretax earnings,
or $2.2$3.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 1998,March 31, 1999, and 40%40.7%, or $4.8$10.1
million for the three months ended September 30, 1999.
The provision for income taxes was 42% or $5.4 million for the nine months
ended September 30, 1998, and 41% or $12.3 million for the nine months ended
September 30, 1999.
13
14March 31, 2000. The difference between the
effective rate for both periods presented and the statutory rate is principally
attributable to the relative impact that non-deductible goodwill had on pretax operating
income.
Goodwill is being
amortized by Network Solutions over five years and is associated with the
acquisition of Network Solutions by SAIC in 1995.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
In February 2000, we received net proceeds of $511 million following the
public offer and sale by us of 4,319,000 shares of our Common Stock. We intend
to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes. We may also use a
portion of the proceeds to acquire or invest in businesses, technologies,
product lines or service offerings that are complementary to our business.
At September 30, 1999,March 31, 2000, Network Solutions' principal source of liquidity was its
cash and cash equivalents of $98.9$876 million and its short-term investments of
$99.1$22.4 million, which when combined represent an increase of $66.3$585.5 million from
its December 31, 19981999 balances in those accounts. Network Solutions also has
$36$51.7 million of marketable securities held as long termlong-term investments as of September
30, 1999.March
31, 2000.
At September 30, 1999,March 31, 2000, Network Solutions' cumulative net obligation to Science
Applications International Corporation, currently known as SAIC, for
intercompany activity was $6.6$11.2 million. Intercompany activity is primarily
comprised of salaries and benefits paid by SAIC on behalf of Network Solutions.
Network Solutions currently reimburses SAIC for intercompany activity on a
monthly basis.
Pursuant to the Tax Sharing Agreement dated September 26, 1997,
Network Solutions remits income tax payments directly to tax authorities as it
no longer is part of SAIC's consolidated group for income tax purposes.
Cash provided by operations was $108.3$118.0 million for the ninethree months ended
September 30, 1999.March 31, 2000. This amount is principally attributed to net income plus the
increase in deferred revenue reflecting cash collected in advance of
registration services revenue recognition, which occurs ratably over the two-and
one-year
registration terms. Partially offsetting this amount is an increase in deferred
tax assets resulting from accelerated revenue recognition for tax purposes and
the associated tax liabilities, generally paid on a quarterly basis.
Cash used in investing activities totaled $27.2 million for the nine months
ended September 30, 1999. Capital expenditures of $44.7 million and net
long-term investment purchases of $3.7 million were partially offset by the
redemption of $21.2 million of short-term investments. Investments11
12
Equity investments during the period include a $2.0$10 million investment in Critical Path, aInterliant,
$6 million in MyComputer.com and $4 million in Interland. All three companies
are leading applications service providers and have strategic business
partner, which subsequently consummated its initial public offering during the
period. Also during the period, a $9.7 million investment was made in RealNames
Corporation, a strategic business partner which filed its S-1 Registration
Statement on October 6, 1999. Critical Path provides outsourced email services
in support ofrelationships with Network Solutions' value-added email product offerings. RealNames
provides an Internet keyword service that Network Solutions promotes in its
value-added product offerings.Solutions.
Capital expenditures year to datefor the three months ended March 31, 2000 were $44.7$8.3
million, primarily for computer equipment and software to support Network
Solutions' registry and registrar efforts, as well as costs related to the opening of Network Solutions'
new call center.registrar. Network Solutions will continue to invest in
the back office infrastructure in advance of continued growth in domain name
registrations and as Network Solutions designs, builds, and operates the shared
registration system in accordance with the Cooperative Agreement.
Network Solutions believes that its existing cash balance, investments and
cash flows expected from future operations will be sufficient to meet Network
Solutions' capital requirements for at least the next 12 months.
FACTORS AFFECTING OPERATING RESULTS
INDUSTRY RISKS Ongoing privatization of Internet administration could harm our registration
business
Within the U.S. Government, leadership for the continued privatization of
Internet administration is currently provided by the Department of Commerce.
After a series of draft proposals and public comment periods, on June 10, 1998,
the Department of Commerce published in the Federal Register a plan referred to
as the Statement of Policy or "White Paper," calling for the formation of a
not-for-profit corporation to assume certain responsibilitiesRELATED TO THE PROPOSED VERISIGN MERGER
We face risks relating to the domain name system, but notproposed VeriSign merger
On March 7, 2000, we executed a merger agreement to perform actual registration of domain names
either as a registrar or registry. The Statement of Policy called for increased
competition and
14
15
invited private sector Internet stakeholders to work together to form a new
private, not-for-profit corporation to oversee policy forbe acquired by
VeriSign. Under the Internet name and
address system.
The Statement of Policy distinguished between the registry and registrar
functionsterms of the domain name system. We currently are the exclusive registry in
the .com, .org, .net and .edu top level domains and act as the leading registrar
in those domains.agreement, each outstanding share of Network
Solutions Common Stock will be exchanged for 1.075 shares of VeriSign common
stock. The technical structureannouncement of the Internet only permits one
registry for each top level domain. A registrar acts asproposed merger may have a negative impact on our
ability to sell our services and products, attract and retain employees and
clients, and maintain strategic relationships with third parties. For example,
our employees may experience uncertainty about their future role with VeriSign
until VeriSign's strategies with regard to us are announced or executed. The
announcement may also have an adverse effect on our relationships with
significant clients and strategic partners.
If the interface between
the registry and the end-user domain name registrants. Registrars submit to the
registry certain limited information for each of their customers that has a
second level domain name in that top level domain. A registrar can provide
value-added products and services in addition to its basic registration service.
Numerous registrars will be able to operate within each top level domain.
As part of the process initiated by the Statement of Policy, several
proposals were put forward to the Department of Commerce on the establishment
and governance of the not-for-profit corporation. This process resulted in the
entry by the U.S. Government into a Memorandum of Understanding, or "MOU," with
a U.S. based private not-for-profit corporation with an international board of
directors, denoted the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or
"ICANN." Under the MOU, the parties will jointly design, develop and test the
mechanisms, methods and procedures that should be in place and the steps
necessary to transition management responsibility for certain domain name system
functions to a private-sector not-for-profit entity. The MOU provides that once
testingmerger is successfully completed, it is contemplated that managementholders of certain
domain name system functionsNetwork Solutions'
Common Stock will be transitioned to the mechanisms, methodsbecome holders of VeriSign's common stock. VeriSign's
business differs from our business, and procedures designed and developed in this joint project. The U.S. Government has
recognized ICANNVeriSign's results of operations, as
well as the not-for-profit corporation described in Amendment 11 to
the Cooperative Agreement, in the performanceprice of ICANN's obligations under the
MOU and until such time as the MOU is terminated.
On November 10, 1999, a seriesVeriSign's common stock, may be affected by factors
different than those affecting our results of wide-ranging agreements were entered into
relating to the domain name system. These agreements consist of the following:
- A registry agreement between us and ICANN under which we will continue to
act as the exclusive registry for the .com, .net and .org top level
domains for at least four more years.
- A revised registrar accreditation agreement between ICANN and all
registrars registering names in the .com, .net and .org domains.
- A revised registrar license and agreement between us as registry and all
registrars registering names in the .com, .net and .org domains using our
proprietary shared registration system.
- Amendment 19 to the Cooperative Agreement.
- An amendment to the MOU.
Under these agreements we have recognized ICANN as the not-for-profit
corporation described in Amendment 11 to the Cooperative Agreement, have become
an ICANN-accredited registrar and have agreed to operate the registry in
accordance with the provisions of the registry agreementoperations and the consensus
policies established by ICANN in accordance withprice of our
Common Stock before the terms of that agreement. We
will be an accredited registrar through November 9, 2004 with a rightmerger. For further information on VeriSign's business
and certain factors to renew
indefinitely. On or before March 9, 2000, we are required to implement a system
under which we will not accept the registration of a domain name as a registrar
unless we are satisfied that we have received a reasonable assurance of payment
of the registration fee. We are entitled to establish our own prices for
registrar services so long as we do so only for registrations for which we have
a reasonable assurance of payment of the registration fee. As the registry, we
will continue to charge registrars $9 per registration-year until January 15,
2000. Thereafter, the fee will be $6 per registration-year unless increased to
cover increases in registry costs under the circumstances described in the
registry agreement.
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We have agreed to use our best commercial efforts to implement by January
15, 2000 modifications to the shared registration system that will enable a
registrar to (a) accept registrations and renewals in one-year increments and
(b) add one year to a registrant's registration period upon transfer of a
registration from one registrar to another. The unexpired term of any
registration may not exceed ten years. We are contractually obligated to provide
equivalent access to the shared registration system to all ICANN-accredited
registrars and to ensure that the revenues and assets of the registry are not
utilized to advantage our registrar activities to the detriment of other
registrars. We have agreed to and have implemented an organizational conflict of
interest compliance plan that includes organizational, physical and procedural
safeguardsconsider in connection with the foregoing.
The termproposed merger and
VeriSign's business, please see VeriSign's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 1999, VeriSign's Rule 425 filings on March 7 and
8, 2000 and VeriSign's Form S-4 and S-4/A filed on April 12, 2000 and May 3,
2000, respectively -- all of which may be accessed through the registry agreement extends until November 9, 2003, except
that ifSEC's EDGAR
filings on their website at www.sec.gov.
If the ownershipVeriSign merger is completed, our stockholders will receive a fixed
number of shares of VeriSign common stock despite changes in the market value of
our registryCommon Stock or VeriSign's common stock. The 1:1.075 ratio of our Common
Stock to VeriSign common stock is a fixed number and registrar operations is separated
within 18 months as describedwill not be adjusted in the
agreement,event of any increase or decrease in the registry agreement term
would be extended for four additional years. Departmentprice of Commerce approval
would be required for the transfer ofVeriSign common stock or our
registry operations and for the
designation of a successor registry by ICANN. Upon expiration of the agreement,
ICANN will conduct a process for selecting a successor registry, in which case
we may compete on an equal basis. If, during the term of the agreement, we fail
to remedy any breach by us of the agreement, we may be terminated as the
registry for the .com, .net and .org domains.
ICANN is contractually obligated to the registry and to all accredited
registrars to comply with specified procedural requirements governing the
exercise of its authority. The agreements also explicitly define the subjects
within the scope of ICANN's authorityCommon Stock, except with respect to both the registry and
registrars. ICANN's authority to set policy for the registry may be terminated
if (a) ICANN breaches the registry agreement and fails to remedy that breach;
(b) the Department of Commerce withdraws its recognition of ICANN; or (c) the
Department of Commerce concludes that ICANN has not made sufficient progress
towards entering into agreements with other registries and we are competitively
disadvantaged. In the event ICANN's authority is terminated, the Department of
Commerce will assume the policy-setting function for registry services for the
.com, .net and .org domains.
We have agreed to pay annual fees set by ICANN at levels not to exceed $2
million for our registrar and $250,000 for our registry. We have agreed to
provide to the Department of Commerce control over the content and use of the
internic.net web site, subject to transition arrangementsstock dividends, splits, etc., as
specifically set forth in the agreements.
All accredited registrars are obligated to provide query-based access to
registration datamerger agreement. The prices of VeriSign common
stock and are barred from placing conditions upon any legal use of
that data, except to prohibit useour Common Stock at the closing of the dataproposed merger may vary from
their respective prices on the date the merger agreement was signed. These
prices may vary because of the changes in the business, operations or prospects
of VeriSign or Network Solutions, market assessments of the likelihood that the
merger will be completed, the timing of the completion of the merger, the
prospects of post-merger operations, regulatory considerations, general market
and economic conditions as well as other factors.
Our failure to enablecomplete the transmission of mass
unsolicited commercial solicitations via e-mail (spam) or to enable high volume,
automated electronic processes that applyproposed merger with VeriSign could adversely affect
our stock price and future business and operations.
The merger is subject to the registrar (orapproval by Network Solutions' and VeriSign's
stockholders and we cannot assure you that the merger will be successfully
completed. In the event that the merger is not successfully completed, Network
Solutions may be subject to a number of material risks, including the following:
- - Network Solutions may be required to pay VeriSign a termination fee of $425
million;
- - the price of Network Solutions' common stock may decline to the extent that
the current market price for its systems).common stock reflects a market assumption
that the proposed merger will be completed; and
- - costs related to the proposed merger, such as legal, accounting, and
financial advisory fees must be paid by Network Solutions, even if the
merger is not completed.
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In addition, all accredited registrars are required to provide third-party bulk
access to registration data (subject to the restrictions described above) for an
annual fee not to exceed $10,000. This obligation will remain in effect until
replaced by a different policy adopted by ICANN or a finding by the Department
of Commerce that no individual or entity is able to exercise market power with
respect to data used for development of third-party value added products and
services.
The Statement of Policy calls for a phased transition of the Department of
Commerce's responsibilities for the domain name system to ICANN by September 30,
2000. We face risks from this transition, including:
- ICANN could adopt or promote policies, procedures or programs that are
unfavorable to our role as the registry or as a registrar or that are not
consistent with our current or future plans,
- Legal, regulatory or other challenges could be made, including challenges
to the agreements described above or to the legal authority underlying
the roles and actions of the Department of Commerce, ICANN and/or us,
- The Department of Commerce or ICANN could assert that we are not
continuing to provide equivalent access to all accredited registrars or
that we are using the revenues or assets of our registry to advantage our
registrar to the detriment of other competing registrars,
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- ICANN could declare us in breach of the registry agreement and/or the
registrar accreditation agreement and terminate our ability to be the
registry and/or a registrar,
- The Department of Commerce could declare us in breach of Amendment 19 to
the Cooperative Agreement and terminate our ability to be the registry
and/or a registrar,
- Congress has held two hearings in which various issues about the domain
name system have been raised and Congress could take action which is
unfavorable to us,
- If we do not seek to separate ownership of our registry and registrar
businesses within 18 months, as described in the agreements,event that the termmerger is not completed and our board of
the registry agreement could expire in four years and wedirectors determines to seek another merger or business combination, it may not
be chosen asable to find a partner willing to pay an equivalent or more attractive price
than that which would have been paid in the successor registry,
- The termsmerger with VeriSign.
We are dependent upon the successful integration of our proposed merger with
VeriSign
Achieving the anticipated benefits of the registrar accreditation contract could change, as a
resultproposed acquisition of an ICANN-adopted policy,our
company by VeriSign is dependent in a manner which is unfavorable to
us,
- The Department of Commerce's interpretation of certain provisionspart upon whether the integration of the Cooperative Agreementtwo
companies' products, services and technologies, research and development
activities, sales and marketing, and administrative organizations is
accomplished in an efficient and effective manner. There can be no assurance
that this will occur. Moreover, the integration process may temporarily divert
management attention from our day-to-day business. Failure to successfully
accomplish integration could differ from ours,
- The Departmenthave a material adverse effect on the business,
financial condition or results of Commerce could revoke its recognition of ICANN, as a
result of which the Department of Commerce would step into the shoes of
ICANN for purposesoperations of the various agreements described above, and could
take actions which are harmful to us,
- The requirement that we provide bulk access to registrant data could hurt
our value-added services,
- ICANN could fail to gain legitimacy resulting in instability in domain
name system administration, and
- The U.S. Government could refuse to transfer certain responsibilities for
domain name system administration to ICANN due to security, stability or
other reasons resulting in fragmentation or other instability in domain
name system administration.combined company.
INDUSTRY RISKS
Increased competition could harm our domain name registration business
The introduction of additional competition into the domain name
registration business could be harmful toharm our business. This includes, in particular,
competition among registrars within a single top level domain, likesuch as .com,
.net or .org, and competition among registrars and registries of existing and
potential new top level domains. We alreadycurrently face competition in the domain
name registration business from other registrars in the top level domains for
which we act as registry, third level domain name providers such as Internet
access providers and registrars and registries of top level domains other than
those top level domains for which we act as registry. As of November 10, 1999,May 8, 2000, 40
accredited registrars (in addition to us) in the .com, .net and .org top level
domains used our shared registration system was being used by 17 accredited (in addition to us)
registrars in the .com, .org and .net top level domains to register domain names. More competingICANN has
accredited 76 additional registrars are anticipatedas of that date. We expect these and
additional accredited registrars to offer competing registration services in
these top level domains in the near future, as ICANN has accredited
48 additional registrars as of such date.future.
The accredited registrars include, large companies such as:among others, AT&T, Alabanza, America
Online, Inc., AT&T, CORE or "InternetInternet Council of Registrars",Registrars, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom
Oleane, iDirections, interQ, Internet Domain Registrars, Melbourne IT,
NameSecure.com, NetBenefit, PSINet, Register.com, PSINet, Inc., Verio, Inc., iDirections, Inc.,
NetBenefit, NameSecure.com,Talk.com and interQ Incorporated.Verio. For the
quarter ended September 30, 1999,March 31, 2000, we registered 1.3 million1,962,000 net new second level
domain names and competing accredited registrars registered 190,0003,075,000 second
level domain names.
The introduction of potential new top-level domains is currently an issue
of global significance. At its most recent meeting in Cairo, the ICANN Board
requested the Names Council, a branch of the Domain Name Supporting
Organization, or DNSO, which is primarily responsible for the consensus-building
process of the DNSO, and its staff to prepare recommendations regarding the
introduction of new generic top-level domains, indicating that the ICANN Board
intends to act on these topics at its Yokohama meeting on July 15-16, 2000. The
Names Council has adopted a resolution declaring that there is a consensus in
support of creating new top level domains.
Future competition in the domain name registration business as a registry
or registrar could come from many different companies, including:
- domain name registration resellers,
- country code registries,
- Internet access providers and
- major telecommunications firms.
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Many of these entities have core capabilities to deliver registry and/or
registrar services, such as help desks, billing services and network management,
along with strong name recognition and Internet industry experience. The recent
agreements among ICANN, the Department of Commerce, us and other registrars
permit flexibility in pricing for and term of registrations. Our revenue,
therefore, could be reduced due to increased competition, pricing pressures, or a
modification of billing practices.bundled service offerings
and variable terms resulting from increased competition. Some registrars and
resellers for at least
one competing registrar in the .com, .net and .org top level domains are already charging
lower prices for domain name registration services in those domains. In
addition, other entities are bundling, and may in the future bundle, domain name
registrations with other
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products or services.services at reduced rates or for free.
Issues arising from implementation of our agreements with ICANN and the
Department of Commerce could harm our registration business
The Department of Commerce has adopted a plan for a phased transition of
the Department of Commerce's responsibilities for the domain name system to
ICANN by September 30, 2000. We face risks from this transition, including:
- ICANN could adopt or promote policies, procedures or programs that are
unfavorable to our role in the registration of domain names or that
are inconsistent with our current or future plans,
- The Department of Commerce or ICANN could terminate our agreements to
be the registry and/or a registrar in the .com, .net and .org top
level domains if they find that we are in violation of our agreements
with them,
- If we do not separate ownership of our registry and registrar by May
2001 in accordance with the registry agreement, the term of the
registry agreement will expire in November 2003 and we may not be
chosen as the successor registry,
- The terms of the registrar accreditation contract could change, as a
result of an ICANN-adopted policy, in a manner which is unfavorable to
us,
- The Department of Commerce's or ICANN's interpretation of provisions
of our agreements with either of them could differ from ours,
- The Department of Commerce could revoke its recognition of ICANN, as a
result of which the Department of Commerce would take the place of
ICANN for purposes of the various agreements mentioned above, and
could take actions which are harmful to us,
- ICANN may approve new top level domains and we may not be selected to
act as a registrar or registry with respect to those top level
domains,
- The U.S. Government could refuse to transfer certain responsibilities
for domain name system administration to ICANN due to security,
stability or other reasons, resulting in fragmentation or other
instability in domain name system administration, and
- Our registry business could face legal or other challenges resulting
from the activities of other registrars.
Challenges to ongoing privatization of Internet administration could harm our
registration business
Risks we face from challenges by third parties, including other domestic
and foreign governments and international governmental authorities, to our role
in the ongoing privatization of the Internet include:
- Legal, regulatory or other challenges, including challenges to the
agreements governing our relationship with, or to the legal authority
underlying the roles and actions of, the Department of Commerce, ICANN
and/or us, could be brought,
- Congress has held two hearings in which various issues about the
domain name system have been raised and Congress could take action
which is unfavorable to us,
- Congress has issued a Conference Report directing the General
Accounting Office to review the relationship between the Department of
Commerce and ICANN and the adequacy of security arrangements under
existing Department of Commerce cooperative agreements. An adverse
report could cause Congress to take action which is unfavorable to us
or to the stability of the domain name system,
- ICANN could fail to maintain legitimacy resulting in instability in
domain name system administration, and
- Some foreign governments and international governmental authorities
have in the past disagreed with, and may in the future disagree with,
the actions, policies or programs of ICANN, the U.S. Government or us
relating to the domain name system. These foreign governments or
governmental authorities may take actions or adopt policies or
programs which are harmful to our business.
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We depend on future growth of the Internet and Internet infrastructure
Our future success substantially depends on the continued growth in the use
of the Internet. If the use of and interest in the Internet does not continue to
grow, our business would be harmed. Continued growth of the Internet could be
slowed by:
- inadequate infrastructure,
- lack of availability of cost-effective, high speed systems and
service,
- delays in developing or adopting new standards and protocols to handle
increased levels of Internet activity or
- government regulation.
We rely on third parties who maintain and control root zone and top level domain
zone servers
We currently administer and operate only two of the 13 root zone servers
and fourseven top level domain zone servers. The others are administered and
operated by independent operators on a volunteer basis. Because of the
importance to the functioning of the Internet of these root zone servers and top
level domain zone servers, our registration business could be harmed if these
volunteer operators fail to properly maintain such servers or abandon such
servers.
Further, our registration business could be harmed if any of these
volunteer operators fail to include or provide accessibility to the data that we
maintain in the root zone servers and the top level domain zone servers that we
control.
In the event and to the extent that ICANN is authorized to set policy with
regard to an authoritative root server system, as provided in the registry
agreement, it is required to ensure that the authoritative root will point to
the top level domain zone servers designated by us. If ICANN does not do this,
our business could be harmed.
We rely on Internet service providers
Our registration business could be harmed if enougha significant number of
Internet service providers decided not to route Internet communications to or
from domain names registered by us or if enougha significant number of Internet
service providers decided to provide routing to a set of domain name servers
which did not point to our top level domain zone servers.
COMPANY RISKS
Our near term success depends on the growth of our domain name registration
business
We may not be able to sustain the revenue growth we have experienced in
recent periods. In addition, past revenue growth may not be indicative of future
operating results. If we do not successfully maintain our current position as a
leading provider of domain name registration services or develop or market
additional value-added products and services, our business could be harmed.
Our domain name registration services business generates over 90% of our
revenue and is expected to continue to account for a very significant portion of
our revenue in at least the near term. Our future success will depend largely
on:
- the continued increase in domain name registrations,
- re-registration rates of our customers,
- our ability to maintain our current position as a leading registrar of
domain names,
- the successful development, introduction and market acceptance of new
services that address the demands of Internet users,
- our ability to provide robust domain name registration systems and
- our ability to provide a superior customer service infrastructure as a
registry and registrar.
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The contractual requirement that we provide bulk access to customer data
could hurt our ability to market and sell other value-added services in addition
to domain name registration services.
System failure or interruption, security breaches or our failure to meet
increasing demands on our systems could harm our business
Any significant problem, including any security breach, with our systems or
operations could result in lost revenue, customer dissatisfaction or lawsuits
against us. A failure in the operation of our registration systemsystems or other
events could result in deletion of one or more domain names from the Internet
for a period of time. A failure in the operation of our shared registration
system could result in the inability of one or more other registrars to register
and maintain domain names for a period of time. A failure in the operation or
update of the master database that we maintain could result in deletion of one
or more top level domains from the Internet and the discontinuation of second
level domain names in those top level domains for a period of time. The
inability of our registration system,registrar systems, including our back office billing and
collections infrastructure, and telecommunications systems to meet the demands
of the increasing number of domain name registration requests and corresponding
customer e-mails and telephone calls, including speculative, otherwise abusive
and repetitive e-mail domain name registration and modification requests, could
result in substantial degradation in our customer support service and our
ability to process, bill and collect registration requests in a timely manner.
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19We recently completed a physical separation of our registrar and registry
computer systems and have run the operations of our new systems separately for
only a limited time. Any data integrity, non-compatibility or other issues that
may arise from this separation could materially harm our business.
Our operations depend on our ability to maintain our computer and
telecommunications equipment in effective working order and to reasonably
protect our systems against interruption and potentially on such maintenance and
protection by other registrars in the shared registration system. The root zone
servers and top level domain zone servers that we operate are critical hardware
to our operations. Interruptions could result from:
- fire, natural disaster, sabotage, power loss, telecommunicationtelecommunications
failure, human error or similar events,
- computer viruses, hackers or similar disruptive problems caused by
employees, customers or other Internet users andor
- systems strain caused by the growth of our customer base and our
inability to sufficiently maintain or upgrade our systems.
We may lose revenue or incur significant costs if Year 2000 compliance issues
are not properly addressed
Our failure, or the failure of third parties on which we rely, to
adequately address Year 2000 compliance issues may cause us to lose revenue or
to incur significant costs. The primary risks that we face with regard to Year
2000 failures are those which impact our domain name registration business.
These risks include:
- significant and protracted interruption of electrical power to data and
systems in our engineering and customer service facilities,
- significant and protracted interruption of telecommunications and data
network services in any of our headquarters, engineering or customer
service facilities,
- the failure of components of our current back office and domain name
registration related systems,
- the occurrence of a Year 2000 problem with respect to third-party
suppliers', vendors' and outsourcing service providers' products and
services, and
- the occurrence of a Year 2000 problem with respect to one of the other
registrars in the shared registration system.
If we fail to solve a Year 2000 compliance problem with our mission
critical business systems and processes, including the domain name servers under
our control, telecommunications systems, facilities, data-networking
infrastructure, commercial-off-the-shelf hardware or software and components
used by our employees, the result could be a failure of or interruption to
normal business operations. Furthermore, our business depends on the continued
operation of, and widespread access to, the Internet. This, in turn, depends to
a large extent on the software and systems of third parties on which our systems
rely or to which they are connected. These third parties include, among others,
Internet-related companies, including Internet web hosting companies, Internet
access providers and Internet domain name server operators.
We have no responsibility for, nor control over, other Internet domain name
server operators that are critical to the efficient operation of the Internet.
We do not know whether such domain name server operators have hardware, software
or firmware that is Year 2000 compliant.
COMPANY RISKS
We must attract, integrate, train and retain key personnel knowledgeable about
our business
Given the relative "newness" and rapid growth of the Internet, there isWe face intense competition for the limited supply of people qualified to
work for us. Our future success depends on the continued service of key
engineering, sales, marketing, executive and administrative personnel, and our
ability to identify, attract, hire, integrate, train and retain such personnel.
Competition for engineering, sales, marketing and executive personnel is
intense, particularly in the technology and Internet sectors and in the regions
where our facilities are located. We cannotmay be certain that we will be ableunable to retain existing personnel
or attract, hire or retain additional qualified personnel. The loss of the
services of any of our senior management team or other key employees or our
failure to attract, integrate, train and retain additional key employees could
harm our business.
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Our near term success depends on the growth of our domain name registration
business
We may not be able to sustain the revenue growth we have experienced in
recent periods. In addition, past revenue growth may not be indicative of future
operating results. If we do not successfully maintain our current position as a
leading provider of domain name registration services or develop or market
additional services, our business could be harmed.
Our domain name registration services business generates over 90% of our
revenue and is expected to continue to account for a very significant portion of
our revenue in at least the near term. Our future success of the registrar and
registry will depend largely on:
- the continued increase in domain name registrations,
- re-registration rates of our customers,
- our ability to maintain our current position as a leading registrar of
domain names,
- the successful development, introduction and market acceptance of new
services that address the demands of Internet users,
- our ability to provide a robust domain name registration system, and
- our ability to provide a superior customer service infrastructure.
We must effectively manage our marketing organization and establish and maintain
distribution channels
We will need to effectively manage our growing sales and marketing
organization if we want to achieve future revenue growth. We domay not know if we
will be able to
identify, attract and retain experienced sales and marketing personnel with
relevant experience. Further, our sales and marketing organization may not be
able to successfully compete against the significantly more extensive and
well-funded sales and marketing operations of our current or potential
competitors for registration or consultingInternet technology services.
Our ability to achieve future revenue growth will also depend on our
ability to continue to establish direct sales channels and to develop multiple
distribution channels. To do this we must maintain relationships with Internet
access providers and other third parties in the new competitive environment.
We have a high level of uncollectible receivables
Because of our high level of uncollectible receivables, we continually
review our billing practices. Any modifications that we may implement as a
result of these reviews, including prepayment or pre-approved credit limits for
new registration orders, which have recently been implemented, could have
unanticipated harmful consequences to our business. We believe we have
experienced a high level of uncollectible receivables due to, among other
factors, the large number of individuals and corporations that have registered
multiple domain names with the apparent intention of transferring such names at
a profit. Our experience has been that such speculative resellers have a greater
tendency than other customers to default on their services fees. We have
established a provision for uncollectible accounts which we believe to be
adequate to cover anticipated uncollectible receivables; however, actual results
could differ from our estimates.parties.
We are party to several legal proceedings which could have a negative financial impact
on us
On March 15, 2000, a group of eight plaintiffs filed suit against the
U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Science Foundation and us in the
United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The case,
entitled William Hoefer et al.
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v. U.S. Department of Commerce, et al., Civil Action No. 000918-VRW, challenges
the lawfulness of the registration fees that we were authorized to charge for
domain name registrations from September 1995 to November 1999. The suit
purports to be brought on behalf of all domain name registrants who paid
registration fees during that period and seeks approximately $1.7 billion in
damages. All of the defendants have now been served with the complaint. The same
attorney who challenged us in a similar action, known as Thomas, et al. v.
Network Solutions, et al., has filed this new action on behalf of eight former
and current domain name registrants. The suit contains eight causes of action
against the defendants based on alleged violations of Art. I, Section 8 and the
Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Independent Offices Appropriations
Act (31 U.S.C. Section 9701), the Administrative Procedure Act, the Sherman Act,
and the California Unfair Competition Act, Section 17200. All defendants have
now filed a motion to transfer the case to the Federal District Court in the
District of Columbia. We believe that the complaint lacks merit and we intend to
vigorously defend ourselves as we did in response to the Thomas case.
We are also involved in severala number of other legal proceedings. We cannot
reasonably estimate the potential impact of any of these proceedings. An adverse
determination in any of these proceedings, however, could harm our business.
Legal proceedings in which we are involved are expensive and divert the
attention of our personnel. See "Part II --
Item 1 -- Legal Proceedings."Please see "Legal Proceedings" on page 20 herein.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights and proprietary
information or we may be subject to claims of infringement of third party
intellectual property rights
We rely on a combination of nondisclosure and other contractual
arrangements with the U.S. Government, our employees, and third parties, as well
as copyright, privacy and trade secret laws, to protect and limit the
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distribution of our proprietary data, computer software, documentation, and
processes used in conducting our domain name registration business.and other businesses.
If we fail to adequately protect our intellectual property rights and
proprietary information, or if we are subject to adverse results in litigation
relating to our intellectual property rights and proprietary information, our
business could be harmed. Any actions we take may not be adequate to protect our
intellectual property rights and proprietary information. Other companies may
develop competing technology that is similar or superior to our technology.
Although we have no reason to believe that our domain name registration business
activities infringe on the intellectual property rights of others, and we
believe that we have all rights needed to conduct our business, it is possible
that we could become subject to claims alleging infringement of third party
intellectual property rights. Any suchof these claims could subject us to costly
litigation, and any adverse final rulings on any suchof these claims could require
us to pay damages, seek to develop alternative technology, and/or seek to
acquire licenses to the intellectual property that is the subject of any such alleged
infringement, and any such rulings not in our favor could have a material adverse effect onharm our business.
Unsuccessful futureIn addition, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability, and
scope of protection of intellectual property rights in Internet-related
businesses are uncertain and still evolving. Because of the growth of the
Internet and Internet related businesses, patent applications are continuously
and simultaneously being filed in connection with Internet-related technology.
There are a significant number of U. S. and foreign patents and patent
applications in our areas of interest, and we believe that there has been, and
is likely to continue to be, significant litigation in the industry regarding
patent and other intellectual property rights.
Future acquisitions and investments could decrease operating income, cause
operational problems or otherwise disrupt our business
We evaluate potential acquisitions and investments on an ongoing basis for
various reasons including, among others, diversification of our domain name
registration services and Internet Technology Services businesses. Our
acquisition and investment strategy poses many risks, including:
- we may not be able to compete successfully for available acquisition
or investment candidates, complete future acquisitions and investments
or accurately estimate the financial effect on our company of any
businesses we acquire or investments we make,
- future acquisitions and investments may require us to spend
significant cash amounts or may decrease our operating income,
- we may have trouble integrating the acquired business and retaining
personnel,
- acquisitions or investments may disrupt our business and distract our
management from other responsibilities,
and
- to the extent that any of the companies which we acquire or in which
we invest fail, our business could be harmed.
Whetherharmed and
- we may not identify appropriate acquisition or when pooling of interests accounting for acquisitions might
become available to us depends on many factors beyond our control.investment targets.
We face increasing risks associated with our international business
While substantially all of our operations, facilities, and personnel are
located within the United States, our revenues from sources
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outside the U.S.United States have increased significantly and may continue to
increase in the future. As a result, we are subject to the risks of conducting
business internationally, including unexpected changes in regulatory
requirements, competition from foreign companies, fluctuations in the U.S.
dollar, tariffs and other barriers and restrictions and the burdens of complying
with a variety of foreign laws. We do not know what the impact of such
regulatory, geopolitical and other factors will be on our business in the future
or if we will have to modify our business practice.practices. In addition, the laws of
certain foreign countries may not protect our proprietary rights to the same
extent as do the laws of the United States.
Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate; our future revenue and
profitability are uncertain
Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly in the future
due to a variety of factors, some of which are beyond our control. Factors that
may affect our revenue and profitability include:
- variations in the number of requests for domain name registrations or
demand for our services,
- successful competition by others,
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- termination or completion of contracts in our Internet Technology
Servicestechnology
services business or failure to obtain additional contracts in that
business and
- market acceptance of new service offerings, and
- the success of our recent reorganization into separate business units.offerings.
In addition, we expect a significant increase in our operating expenses as we:
- increase our sales and marketing operations and activities and
- continue to update our systems and infrastructure.
If the increase in our expenses is not followed by ana corresponding increase
in our revenue, our operating results will be harmed.suffer. The fact that in the past our
revenues haverevenue has increased and we have been profitable on a quarterly and annual
basis is not indicative of whether our revenuesrevenue will increase or whether we will
be profitable on a quarterly or annual basis in the future.
INVESTMENT RISKS
Our stock price, like that of many Internet companies, is highly volatile
The market price of our common stockCommon Stock has been and is likely to continue to
be highly volatile and significantly affected by factors such as:
- general market and economic conditions and market conditions affecting
technology and Internet stocks generally,
- actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly or annual
registrations or operating results,
- announcements of technological innovations, acquisitions or
investments, developments in Internet governance or corporate actions
such as stock splits, and
- industry conditions and trends.
The stock market has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations
that have particularly affected the market prices of the stocks of technology
companies, especially Internet-related companies. These broad market or
technology or Internet sector fluctuations may adversely affect the market price
of our common stock.Common Stock. Recently, the market price of our common stock,Common Stock, like that
of many Internet-related companies, has experienced significant fluctuations.
For instance, frombetween January 1, 1999, through November 12, 1999,and May 8, 2000, the reported saleslast sale
price for our common stockCommon Stock ranged from $51.75$25.875 per share to $155.94$247.25 per share.
On November 12, 1999,May 8, 2000, the reported last sale price of our common stockCommon Stock was $150.06$142.25 per
share.
The market price of our common stockCommon Stock also has been and is likely to
continue to be significantly affected by expectations of analysts and investors.
Reports and statements of analysts do not necessarily reflect our views. The
fact that we have in the past met or
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19
exceeded analyst or investor expectations does not necessarily mean that we will
do so in the future.
In the past, followingsecurities class action lawsuits have often followed periods
of volatility in the market price of a particular company's securities, securities class action litigation has often
been brought. Suchsecurities. This
type of litigation could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our
management's attention and resources.
Future issuances or sales of common stockCommon Stock could affectcause our stock price to
decrease
We may in the future issue shares of Common Stock in connection with
acquisitions or other strategic investments. Also, SAIC Venture Capital
Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SAIC, owns 14,850,000 of the outstanding16,300,000 shares of our
common stock.Common Stock. A decision by us to issue shares of Common Stock or by SAIC
Venture Capital Corporation or other stockholders to sell such stockour Common Stock could
depress the market price of the common
stock.Common Stock.
SAIC may maintain significant influence over us
SAIC Venture Capital Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SAIC, owns
approximately 45%23% of our common stockCommon Stock and remainsis our largest shareholder.stockholder. Matters
requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of members of our
boardBoard of directors,Directors, changes in
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23 the size and composition of the boardBoard of
directorsDirectors and a change in control, may need SAIC'sthe approval of SAIC Venture Capital
Corporation to be effected. SAIC Venture Capital Corporation has agreed to vote
its shares in favor of the approval and adoption of the merger with VeriSign and
against approval of any proposal made in opposition to or in competition with
the consummation of the merger. We do not have an agreement with either SAIC or
SAIC Venture Capital Corporation which restricts itsSAIC Venture Capital
Corporation's rights to convert, distribute or sell its shares of our common
stock.
CertainCommon Stock.
Some of our directors may have conflicts of interest
Certaininterest.
Some of our directors currently serve as directors, officers and employees
of SAIC.SAIC and other companies, including Stratton D. Sclavos, who serves as Chief
Executive Officer and President of VeriSign. Therefore, there may be various
conflicts of interest or conflicting duties for these individuals. Since our
directors and officers may also own stock of SAIC,those companies, there may be
conflicts of interest when directors and officers are faced with decisions that
could have different implications for usNetwork Solutions and SAIC.those companies.
SAIC Venture Capital has agreed to vote its shares in favor of the approval and
adoption of the merger with VeriSign and against approval of any proposal made
in opposition to or in competition with the consummation of the merger.
We rely on SAIC for certain corporate services and employee benefits
We currently receive corporate services under an agreement with SAIC. WereIf
SAIC were to terminate these services, we maymight not be able to secure
alternative sources for such services or such services maymight only be available
to us at prices higher than those charged by SAIC.
Our employees are currently eligible to participate in certain SAICsome of SAIC's
employee benefit plans through the end of calendar year 1999.2000. However, due to
SAIC's sale of some of its shares,since
SAIC now indirectly owns less than 50% of our common
stock and as a resultCommon Stock, we will have to
establish certain employee benefit plans of our own which could result in
incremental costs to us.
Our certificate of incorporation contains provisions relating to SAIC that may
adversely affect us or our stockholders
Our certificate of incorporation includes provisions relating to
competition by SAIC with us, allocations of corporate opportunities,
transactions with interested parties and intercompany agreements and provisions
limiting the liability of certain people. It is unclear whether such provisions
are enforceable under Delaware corporate law. Our certificate of incorporation
provides that any person purchasing or acquiring an interest in shares of our
capital stock shall be deemed to have consented to the provisions in the
certificate of incorporation relating to competition with SAIC, conflicts of
interest, corporate opportunities and intercompany agreements, and such consent
may restrict such person's ability to challenge transactions carried out in
compliance with such provisions. The corporate charter of SAIC does not include
similar provisions. Therefore, persons who are directors and/or officers of ours
and who are also directors and/or officers of SAIC may choose to take action in
reliance on such provisions rather than act in a manner that might be favorable
to us but adverse to SAIC.
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YEAR 2000 COMPLIANCE
Network Solutions is continually assessingPrior to entering the potential effects of the
"Year 2000" millennium change on Network Solutions' businessyear 2000, or Y2K, we developed detailed plans for
implementing, testing and completing any necessary modifications to our key
computer systems and processes, including the Internet domain name servers under Network Solutions'
control, telecommunications systems, facilities, data-networking infrastructure,
commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, software and components used by its employees
and its outsourcing vendors. Network Solutions' Year 2000 project is proceeding
on schedule. The project goal isequipment to ensure that Network Solutions' business is
not impacted by the date transitions associated with the Year 2000.
Network Solutions' Year 2000 project plan is coordinated bythey were Y2K compliant. We also
developed a team that
reports directlytestbed of our internal systems to senior management. The project team is evaluating the Year
2000 compliance of Network Solutions' business systemsimplement and processes, including
the Internet domain name servers under Network Solutions' control,
telecommunications systems, facilities, data-networking infrastructure,
commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, software and components used by its employees
and its outsourcing vendors whom provide services relating to Network Solutions'
domain name registration business. Network Solutions' Year 2000 project is
comprisedcomplete testing of
the following parallel phases:
- Phase 1 -- Inventory allrequisite minor changes and completed an inventory of Network Solutions' businessour internal systems.
Now that we have entered the year 2000, we have tested our key computer system
and, to date, we have not encountered any material Y2K related disruptions or
failures of our systems and
processes, including the Internet domain name servers under Network
Solutions' control, telecommunications systems, facilities, data-
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24
networking infrastructure, commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, software
and components used by its employees in order to assign priorities to
potentially impacted systems and services. This phase hasor services, nor have we been completed;
- Phase 2 -- Assess the Year 2000 compliance of all inventoried business
systems and processes, including the Internet domain name servers under
Network Solutions' control, telecommunications systems, facilities,
data-networking infrastructure, commercial-off-the-shelf hardware,
software and components used by its employees and determine whether to
renovate or replace any non-Year 2000 compliant systems and services. The
assessment of mission critical systems has been completed; however,
assessment continues as a life cycle development activity;
- Phase 3 -- Complete remediationnotified of any
non-Year 2000 compliant businessdisruptions or failures in the systems of any of our third parties with whom we
deal. There is an ongoing risk that Y2K related problems could still occur and
processes, including the Internet domain name servers under
Network Solutions' control, telecommunications systems, facilities,
data-networking infrastructure, commercial-off-the-shelf hardware,
software and components used by its employees. Conduct procurements to
replace any other non-Year 2000 compliant business systems and processes,
telecommunications systems, facilities, data-networking infrastructure,
commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, software and components used by its
employees that will not be remediated. All remediation efforts have been
completed;
- Phase 4 -- Test and validate remediated systems to ensure inter-system
compliance and mission critical system functionality. The testing for the
most critical dates has been completed. As remediated code is
successfully tested, it is released into production incrementally, a
process which was completed by October 16, 1999. However, should vendors
release additional patches related to the Year 2000 millennium change,
Network Solutionswe will continue to deploy changes during regularly
scheduled maintenance windows;
- Phase 5 -- Deploy and implement remediated and replacement systems after
the completion of successful testing and validation. The deployment and
implementation of the remediated or replacement systems was completed by
October 16, 1999; and
- Phase 6 -- Design contingency and business continuation plans in the
event of the failure of business systems and processes,
telecommunications systems, facilities, data-networking infrastructure,
commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, software and components used by
Network Solutions' employees due to the Year 2000 millennium change. The
contingency and business continuation plans have been completed and they
will be updated throughout the year as appropriate.
Based on its inventory and assessment, Network Solutions found that less
than one-half of one percent of the software code of its mission critical
systems needed to be remediated to be made Year 2000 compliant.evaluate these risks. However, Network
Solutions, in its normal course of business, anticipates replacing or upgrading,
prior to the millennium change, portions of these systems with new systems which
will also be Year 2000 compliant. Currently, Network Solutions is enhancing its
"back-office" and registration-related systems and the software relating to its
core domain name registration services business. This enhancement effort is a
function of Network Solutions' business growth and not a Year 2000 remediation
effort.
Based on its inventory and assessment, Network Solutions has found no
material Year 2000 problems with its facilities and telecommunications systems.
Network Solutions has conducted detailed assessments and tested the components
of its telecommunications infrastructure. In addition, Network Solutions is
seeking assurances from its facilities' landlords and telecommunications
equipment vendors and data circuit providers regarding the Year 2000 compliance
of their facilities and equipment. In the event of electrical power interruption
outside of Network Solutions' control, Network Solutions has deployed back-up
power systems capable of operating its core business indefinitely.
Network Solutions has completed the testing phase of its project cycle
although Network Solutions will continue to use its test environment to evaluate
less critical processes into and through the transition to the Year 2000.
Network Solutions believes that its incremental remediation costs to make its
current business systems and processes, including the Internet domain name
servers under Network Solutions' control, telecommunications systems,
facilities, data-networking infrastructure, commercial-off-the-shelf hardware,
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25
software and components used by its employees Year 2000 compliant are not
material. Network Solutions is incurring some incremental costs directly
relating to staff augmentation for the Year 2000 program management and
technical assessment. Through September 30, 1999, the costs expended by Network
Solutions are approximately $2,000,000. Network Solutions' expected total costs,
including remediation and replacement costs, are estimated to be between
$2,500,000 and $2,750,000 over the life of the Year 2000 project. Since portions
of the mission critical "back office" and domain name registration-related
systems have been replaced as a function of business growth, the labor and
capital costs associated with such replacement systems are not directly
attributed to achieving Year 2000 compliance. Network Solutions has incurred
costs for extending its software testing architecture which, in addition to
testing remediated systems, is used as a normal component of Network Solutions'
quality assurance infrastructure. As such, these costs are not directly
categorized as Year 2000 project costs but as normal business development and
engineering costs.
Network Solutions is maintaining contact with its hardware and software
vendors, significant suppliers, outsourcing service providers and contracting
parties to monitor the extent to which Network Solutions is vulnerable to any
such third party's failure to achieve Year 2000 compliance for its own systems.
At the present time, Network Solutions does not expect Year 2000 issues of any
such third parties to materially affect Network Solutions' business.
Furthermore, Network Solutions' business depends on the continued operation of,
and widespread access to, the Internet. This, in turn, depends to a large extent
on the software and systems of third parties on which Network Solutions' systems
rely or to which they are connected. These third parties include, among others,
Internet-related companies, including Internet web hosting companies, Internet
access providers and Internet domain name server operators. Network Solutions
can give no assuranceswe believe that the software or systems of such third parties will
be Year 2000 compliant or that the failure of such third parties to achieve Year
2000 complianceY2K issue
will not have a material adverse effect on Network Solutions. To
the extent that the normal operation of the Internet is disrupted by the Year
2000 millennium change, Network Solutions' business, financial condition or
results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Should Network Solutions fail to solve a Year 2000 compliance problem
related to its mission critical business systems and processes, including the
Internet domain name servers under Network Solutions' control,
telecommunications systems, facilities, data-networking infrastructure,
commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, software and components used by its
employees, the result could be a failure or interruption to normal business
operations. Network Solutions believes that, with the upgrades to the "back
office" and domain name registration related systems in 1999, the potentialpose any significant operational problems for significant interruptions to normal operations should be minimized. Network
Solutions' primary risks with regard to Year 2000 failures are those which
impact its domain name registration business. The reasonably likely worst case
risks inherent in Network Solutions' business are as follows:
- Significant and protracted interruption of electrical power to data and
systems in Network Solutions' engineering and customer support facilities
could materially and negatively impact Network Solutions' ability to
provide data and call-center operations. To mitigate this risk, Network
Solutions has deployed back-up power systems capable of operating
indefinitely. However, electrical power interruptions that impact
Internet connectivity providers could adversely impact Network Solutions
because of Network Solutions' reliance upon Internet-based operations for
its day to day business.
- Significant and protracted interruption of telecommunications and data
network services in any of Network Solutions' headquarters, engineering
or customer support facilities could materially and negatively impact
Network Solutions' ability to provide data and call-center operations.
Network Solutions has conducted detailed assessments of the components of
its telecommunications infrastructure and tested those systems. As part
of its technical assessment, Network Solutions identified the compliance
status of its data networking infrastructure and implemented remediation.
Finally, Network Solutions has plans to seek additional assurances and a
better understanding of the compliance programs of its telecommunications
and data circuit providers.
- The failure of components of Network Solutions' current "back office" and
domain name registration related systems could materially and negatively
impact Network Solutions' business. However, as a function of business
growth, these systems will undergo significant upgrades before the end of
1999. As
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26
a contingency planning measure, Network Solutions has conducted a
technical assessment of the current systems and their software
applications, taken corrective action where necessary, tested those
changes, and deployed into production the remediated software.
- Despite the assurances of Network Solutions' third-party suppliers,
hardware and software vendors, and outsourcing service providers
regarding the Year 2000 compliance of their products and services, the
potential exists that a Year 2000 problem relating to such third-party
suppliers, vendors and outsourcing service providers' products and
services could have a material impact on Network Solutions' business.
Network Solutions is conducting follow-up discussions with its mission
critical outsourcing service providers to determine the progress of their
Year 2000 compliance programs.
Although Network Solutions found that it only has had to remediate a small
portion of its software code in its internal mission critical systems and
despite Network Solutions' finding that its enhancement effort has resulted in
Year 2000 compliant "back-office" and registration-related systems and software
relating to its core domain name registration services business, Network
Solutions has developed a business continuity plan and has performed a test on
the existing core registration-related systems that were upgraded. Such test was
performed by conducting end-to-end testing of the existing core
registration-related systems in a test environment mirroring the production
system environment. The final business continuity plan has been completed and
will be updated as appropriate throughout the year.
Although Network Solutions is taking appropriate steps so that Network
Solutions' business is not impacted by the date transitions associated with the
Year 2000, Network Solutions has no responsibility for, nor control over other
Internet domain name server operators or tens of thousands of lower level domain
name system server operators that are critical to the efficient operation of the
Internet. Network Solutions has not determined whether such domain name server
operators or other server operators have hardware, software or firmware that is
Year 2000 compliant. Network Solutions has notified the Department of Commerce
of this issue. Network Solutions is aware that many companies that have their
own DNS servers are running older copies of BIND software which are not
certified Year 2000 compliant, although the current version of BIND, version
8.x, is so certified. BIND is the most commonly used program for DNS resolution
at the server level and is created and distributed by the Internet Software
Consortium. Network Solutions has not determined whether the older versions of
BIND could present a significant Year 2000 problem. Network Solutions has made
available test support materials to aid DNS operators in their evaluation of
their local compliance.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The foregoing Year 2000 discussion and the information contained herein is
provided as a "Year 2000 Readiness Disclosure" as defined in the Year 2000
Information and Readiness Disclosure Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-271, 112 Stat.
2386) enacted on October 19, 1998 and contains "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
statements, including without limitation, anticipated costs and the dates by
which Network Solutions expects to complete certain actions, are based on
management's best current estimates, which were derived utilizing numerous
assumptions about future events, including the continued availability of certain
resources, representations received from third parties and other factors.
However, there can be no guarantee that these estimates will be achieved, and
actual results could differ materially from those anticipated. Specific factors
that might cause such material differences include, but are not limited to, the
ability to identify and remediate all relevant systems, results of Year 2000
testing, adequate resolution of Year 2000 issues by governmental agencies,
businesses and other third parties who are outsourcing service providers,
suppliers, and vendors of Network Solutions, unanticipated system costs, the
adequacy of and ability to implement contingency plans and similar
uncertainties. The "forward-looking statements" made in the foregoing Year 2000
discussion speak only as of the date on which such statements are made, and
Network Solutions undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such
statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
26
27us.
ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.
Network Solutions is exposed to the impact of interest rate changes and
change in the market values of its investments.
Interest Rate Risk. Network Solutions' exposure to market rate risk for
changes in interest rates relates primarily to the Company'sour investment portfolio. Network
Solutions has not used derivative financial instruments in its investment
portfolio. Network Solutions invests its excess cash in debt instruments of the
U.S. Government and its agencies, and in high-quality corporate issuers and, by
policy, limits the amount of credit exposure to any one issuer. The Company protectsWe protect and
preserves itspreserve our invested funds by limiting default, market and reinvestment risk.
Investments in both fixed rate and floating rate interest earning
instruments carry a degree of interest rate risk. Fixed rate securities may have
their fair market value adversely impacted due to a rise in interest rates,
while floating rate securities may produce less income than expected if interest
rates fall. Due in part to these factors, the Company'sNetwork Solutions' future investment
income may fall short of expectations due to changes in interest rates or
the CompanyNetwork Solutions may suffer losses in principal if forced to sell securities
which have declined in market value due to changes in interest rates.
Investment Risk. The CompanyNetwork Solutions has invested in the equity instruments
of aseveral privately-held, information technology companycompanies for business and
strategic purposes. This investment isThese investments are included in other long-term assets and
isare accounted for under the cost method which approximates fair value. Network
Solutions is also exposed to equity price risks on the marketable portion of its
equity securities. Network Solutions' available-for-sale securities include
investments in publicly-held companies in the Internet industry sector, many of
which have experienced significant historical volatility in their stock prices.
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PART II OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
As of November 4, 1999,May 8, 2000, we were a defendant in 9fourteen active lawsuits
involving domain name disputes between trademark owners and domain name holders.
We are drawn into such disputes, in part, as a result of claims by trademark
owners that we are legally required, upon request by a trademark owner, to
terminate the right we granted to a domain name holder to register a domain name
which is alleged to be similar to the trademark in question. On October 25,
1999, however, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in our favor and against
Lockheed Corporation, holding that our services do not make us liable for
contributory infringement to trademark owners. Thus, we believe, this type of
suit should decline. The holders of the domain name registrations in dispute
have, in turn, questioned our right, absent a court order, to take any action
which suspends their use of the domain names in question. Beginning January 1,
2000, however, we no longer included a contractual provision in our service
contracts with domain name holders under which we would suspend their use of
their domain name under dispute by a trademark owner. Thus, we believe, this
type of suit also should decline. Although 5976 out of approximately 8,66110,000 of
these situations have resulted in suits actually naming us as a defendant, as of
November 4, 1999,May 8, 2000, no adverse judgment has been rendered and no award of damages has
ever been made against us. We believe that we have meritorious defenses and
vigorously defend ourselves against these claims.
On March 20, 1997, PG Media, Inc.,15, 2000, a New York-based corporation,group of eight plaintiffs filed a
lawsuitsuit against the
U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Science Foundation and us in the
United States District Court Southernfor the Northern District of New
York allegingCalifornia. The case,
entitled William Hoefer et al. v. U.S. Department of Commerce, et al., Civil
Action No. 000918-VRW, challenges the lawfulness of the registration fees that
we had restricted accesswere authorized to charge for domain name registrations from September 1995
to November 1999. The suit purports to be brought on behalf of all domain name
registrants who paid registration fees during that period and seeks
approximately $1.7 billion in damages.
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21
All of the defendants have now been served with the complaint. The same attorney
who challenged us in a similar action, known as Thomas, et al. v. Network
Solutions, et al., has filed this new action on behalf of eight former and
current domain name registrants. The suit contains eight causes of action
against the defendants based on alleged violations of Art. I, Section 8 and the
Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Independent Offices Appropriations
Act (31 U.S.C. Section 9701), the Administrative Procedure Act, the Sherman Act,
and the California Unfair Competition Act, Section 17200. All defendants have
now filed a motion to transfer the case to the Internet by not adding PG
Media's requested 490 top level domainsFederal District Court in the
District of Columbia. We believe that the complaint lacks merit and we intend to
vigorously defend ourselves as we did in response to the Internet root zone in violation
of the Sherman Act. In its complaint, PG Media, in addition to requesting
damages, asked that we be ordered to include reference to PG Media's top level
domains and name servers in the root zone file administered by us under the
Cooperative Agreement. In June 1997, we received written direction from the
National Science Foundation not to take any action which would create additional
top level domains or to add any new top level domains to the Internet root zone
until the National Science Foundation provides further guidance. On September
17, 1997, PG Media filed a Second Amended Complaint adding the National Science
Foundation as a defendant. On May 14, 1998, PG Media served us with a motion for
a preliminary injunction against both defendants to compel both defendants to
add PG Media's top level domains to the Internet root zone within 30 days. In
response, both defendants filed cross-motions for summary judgment against PG
Media. On July 20, 1998, a hearing on all parties' motions occurred. The basic
issue before the court was the National Science Foundation's authority to
control the Internet's root zone system. On March 16, 1999, the court granted
both our and the National Science Foundation's motions for summary judgment,
holding that the National Science Foundation does have authority over the root
zone system and that the federal instrumentality immunity doctrine immunizes us
against liability under both sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. PG Media
noticed its appeal on April 15, 1999. Oral argument on the appeal occurred on
November 4, 1999. While we cannot reasonably estimate the potential impact of
the claims advanced in this lawsuit, a successful claim could harm our business.Thomas case.
On October 17, 1997, a group of six plaintiffs filed the Thomas suit
against us and the National Science Foundation in the United States District
Court, District of Columbia, challenging the legality of fees defendants charge
for the registration of domain names on the Internet and seeking restitution of
fees collected from domain name registrants in an amount in excess of $100
million, damages, and injunctive and other relief. Plaintiffs alleged violations
of the Sherman Act, the U.S. Constitution, the Administrative Procedures Act and
the Independent Offices Appropriations Act. On February 10, 1998, the plaintiffs
filed a motion for preliminary injunction against us seeking several items of
relief. On April 6, 1998, the Court issued its opinion granting summary judgment
in favor of the plaintiffs on the Intellectual Infrastructure Fund, ruling it an
"unlawful tax." The court also granted our motion to dismiss all other counts
(II through X) and simultaneously denied the plaintiffs' preliminary injunction
motion against us. On April 30, 1998, Congress passed H.R. 3579 which was signed
into law by the President on May 1, 1998. Section 8003 of H.R. 3579 legalized,
ratified and confirmed the entire Intellectual Infrastructure Fund and
authorized and directed the National Science Foundation to deposit the entire
fund into the U.S. Treasury. On August 28, 1998, the District Court dismissed
the entire case, issuing a final judgment in the matter. In October 1998, the
plaintiffs appealed the court's dismissal of their claims, and oral argument
occurred on February 25, 1999. On May 14, 1999, the Court of Appeals ruled in
our favor of Network Solutions by unanimously affirming the District Court's decision. The Court of
Appeals denied the plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration and entered final
judgment on July 20, 1999. TheOn October 12, 1999, the plaintiffs have now filed a Petition
for a writWrit of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme CourtCourt. Our opposition to that
Petition was filed on October 12,December 8, 1999. We plan to oppose that Petition.
28
29
On June 27, 1997, SAIC received a Civil Investigative Demand, or "CID,"
fromJanuary 18, 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice issued in connection with an investigation
to determine whether there is, has been, or may be any antitrust violation underSupreme
Court denied the Sherman Act relating to Internet registration products and services. The CID
sought documents and information from SAIC and us relating to our Internet
registration business. On April 29, 1999, we received a second CID seeking
additional information and documents relating to our ownership rights in,
policies relating to access to, and our use of, data that we compile in the
course of operating our Internet registration business. We are providing
information responsive to the CID. On June 23, 1999, the Department of Justice
formally notified us that SAIC had been removed as a subject of the
investigation. Because the investigation, as currently focused, is still at a
preliminary stage, we cannot reasonably estimate the potential impact of the
investigation nor can we predict whether a civil action might ultimately be
filed by the Department of Justice or the form of relief that might be sought.
Any such relief from such a suit could have a harmful effect on our business.
On August 17, 1998, we received notice from the Commission of the European
Communities, or "EC," of an investigation concerning the Company's Premier
Program agreements in Europe. The EC requested production of these agreements
and related materials for review and we complied. On June 17, 1999, we received
a second inquiry from the EC concerning our registrar licensing agreements with
the five newly-accredited testbed registrars and we responded to this inquiry on
July 9, 1999. We cannot reasonably estimate the potential impact of the
investigation nor can we predict whether an action will ultimately be brought by
the EC or the form of relief that might be sought. Any such relief could harm
our business.plaintiffs' petition.
We are involved in various other investigations, claims and lawsuits
arising in the normal conduct of our business, none of which, in our opinion
will harm our business.
Legal proceedings in which we are involved have resulted and likely will
result in, and any future legal proceedings can be expected to result in,
substantial legal and other expenses and a diversion of the efforts of our
personnel.
ITEM 2. CHANGES IN SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS.
The Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No.
333-30705) was declared effective September 25, 1997 by the Securities and
Exchange Commission. The managing underwriters of the Class A common stock
offering commencing September 26, 1997 were Hambrecht & Quist, J.P. Morgan & Co.
and PaineWebber Incorporated. The Company registered and sold 3,220,000 shares
(pre-split) for its own account at an aggregate price of $57,960,000 and the
selling stockholder (SAIC) registered and sold 575,000 shares (pre-split) for
its account at an aggregate price of $10,350,000, for a combined total of
3,795,000 shares (pre-split) at an aggregate price of $68,310,000. The offering
has since terminated.
The total amount of expenses incurred for the Company's account in
connection with the offering was $5,555,200, which is comprised of $4,057,200
for underwriting discounts and commissions and $1,498,000 of other expenses. No
expenses were paid to directors, officers or persons owning more than ten
percent of any class of the Company's equity securities. The resultant Company's
net offering proceeds were $52,404,800. The net proceeds to SAIC for its account
were $9,625,500 after deducting the associated underwriting discounts and
commissions of $724,500.
On October 1, 1997, the Company received the offering proceeds from which a
$10,000,000 dividend was paid to SAIC. SAIC owns ten percent or more of a class
of the Company's equity securities and is an affiliate of the Company. The
remaining proceeds have been invested in investment grade government discount
notes, commercial paper and corporate bonds.None.
ITEM 4. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS.
None.
ITEM 6. EXHIBITS AND REPORTS ON FORM 8-K.
(a) Exhibits -- See Exhibit Index
(b) Reports on Form 8-K
-- None
29The following reports on Form 8-K were filed during the quarter ended
March 31, 2000:
On March 8, 2000, we filed a report on Form 8-K, pursuant to Item 5 of
such form, to report that on March 6, 2000, VeriSign, Inc., Network Solutions,
Inc. and Nickel Acquisition Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of VeriSign,
entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger. Subject to the terms and
conditions of the Merger Agreement, Nickel Acquisition Corporation will merge
with and into Network Solutions, with Network Solutions to survive the Merger
and to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of VeriSign.
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On February 10, 2000, we filed a report on Form 8-K, pursuant to Item
5 of such form, to report that, we announced our 1999 fourth quarter and annual
financial results. A copy of Network Solutions' press release, announcing such
financial results was attached thereto as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated by
reference therein.
On January 31, 2000, we filed a report on Form 8-K, pursuant to Item
5 of such form, to report that, we announced that our Registrar business added
more than 5 million net new domain names in 1999, up 164 percent over the 1998
total of 1.9 million net new domain names. Network Solutions' cumulative total
of domain name registrations at the end of 1999 was 8.1 million. In 1999,
Network Solutions' Registry gained an additional 890,000 domain names from
non-Network Solutions registrars. As of January 28, 2000, 27 registrars
including the Network Solutions Registrar, were operational and registering
domain names in .com, .net and .org.
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
By: /s/ ROBERT J. KORZENIEWSKI
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert J. Korzeniewski
Chief Financial Officer and
Authorized Signatory
Date: NovemberMay 15, 1999
302000
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INDEX TO EXHIBITS
NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBERMARCH 30, 19992000
EXHIBIT SEQUENTIAL
NO. DESCRIPTION OF EXHIBITS PAGE NO.
- ------- -------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- ----------
10.33 Amendment No. 16 to the Cooperative2.1* Agreement and Plan of Merger among VeriSign, Inc., Nickel
Acquisition Corporation and Network Solutions, Inc., dated
March 6, 2000.
10.1* Registration Rights Agreement dated August
18, 1999
10.34 Amendment No. 17 to the Cooperative Agreement dated October
11, 1999
10.35 Amendment No. 18 to the Cooperative Agreement dated October
11, 1999as of March 6, 2000
Between VeriSign and SAIC Venture Capital Corporation.
27.1 Financial Data Schedule
27.2 Restated Financial Data Schedule
31*Incorporated by reference from Network Solution, Inc.'s Report on form 8-K
dated March 8, 2000.
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