Network Solutions registers the domain names you search for…
Readers of this blog and my old mailing list know that I am no big fan of Network Solutions and its long history of anti-competitive and generally dirty business practises. From YCombinator comes this nugget about Network Solutions, exploiting a loophole extended by ICANN to pre-register domain names you’ve searched for on their site, thus preventing other registrars from handling the transaction later. Network Solutions currently charges $35 for an annual domain name registration, while most of their competitors land squarely between $7 and $15.
The problem exhibits itself thus: A query at the Network Solutions web site via its whois service will cause the domain name to appear to be available via NetSol, but in performing the same search via a third-party registrar the domain name appears to have been registered via Network Solutions to a private registrant. This is evil.
The piece has since been picked up by eWeek and in some depth at DomainNameNews.
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Witnessed this first hand last night at 8pm. Called them to discuss why they registered the site I had just searched for minutes ago. Glad the internet media and blogs picked up on this practice and blasted it.
As stated in your article, they charge 4 or 5 times the rate of their competitors. The only business they get are those who have no clue the fees are way out of line.
The damage to an already bad reputation should certainly help Q2 sales!
Hoping this is the beginning of the end for NETSOL!