<i>From that I see this:</i><p>Wow. It&#x27;s like we are reading two different articles. If Verisign isn&#x27;t doing typical rent-seeking, then we might as well delete the Wiki entry, because the concept doesn&#x27;t exist.<p>Just from paragraph 1:<p><pre><code>   seeking to increase one&#x27;s share of existing
   wealth without creating new wealth.
</code></pre>
Exactly what Verisign is doing. They are supplying <i>infrastructure</i> to the Internet. They&#x27;re not <i>creating</i> anything, they&#x27;re simply charging everyone an excessive fee for using the existing Internet. They&#x27;re inserting themselves into every single .com and .net domain purchase or renewal.<p>From paragraph 2:<p><pre><code>   capture of regulatory agencies to gain a coercive
   monopoly can result in advantages for the rent
   seeker in the market
</code></pre>
Regulatory capture. This is <i>exactly</i> what happened when ICANN awarded no-bid contracts to Verisign, under the pretense that no other firm would have the capacity to do it.[1]<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;timothyblee.com&#x2F;2010&#x2F;01&#x2F;22&#x2F;verisign-angling-for-no-bid-contract-renewal&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;timothyblee.com&#x2F;2010&#x2F;01&#x2F;22&#x2F;verisign-angling-for-no-bi...</a>