Purveyors of Pixels Since 2001.™

Network Solutions Now in the Business of Domain Name Squatting?

Sunday, January 13th, 2008  |  Tom Carmony

A number of blogs in recent days have written up a rather disturbing practice implemented by Network Solutions, in which they apparently register domains that you search for (but don’t register) via their website. For instance, if I do a domain search for “ineedanewdomain.com” via the Network Solutions website, but decide not to register it at that time, I’ll no longer be able to purchase rights to that domain anywhere but Network Solutions. Any attempts to do so return a WHOIS search result listing “This Domain is available at NetworkSolutions.com” as the company name.

The practice is known as “front running”, scanning domain search records to find domains to purchase based on others having searched for them, and Network Solutions is claiming that what they’re doing is specifically designed to “protect customers from frontrunners.” By front running themselves. Of course, it makes perfect sense.

Network Solutions is defending the practice by emphasizing that they release such domains after four days, and do not charge a premium (above their standard registration fees) for such domains. Still, the practice clearly undermines the customer’s ability to shop around for the best deal on domain registration, as you can frequently find more affordable registration pricing via any number of competing registration services.

Still, undertaking the same practice they’re supposedly trying to eliminate? I don’t think most people are buying it. It’s just one additional reason (along with their ridiculously overpriced domain registrations – $34.99, while many competitors offer the same service for $10) to avoid Network Solutions completely.

 
 

Filed Under » Tech | Comments Off


Comments are closed.