| From Classbrain.com Computers In the game of high stakes Internet URLs there are many underhanded games taking place. Predators lurk at every turn, intercepting searches or buying them from unnamed sources. They test URLs to see if they monetize well, and then put up worthless search sites, which add nothing of value to the Internet; merely existing to mislead individuals into searching for monetized search terms. According to Bob Parson's of GoDaddy.com: The practice of domain tasting and kiting continues to rage out-of-control. In February 2007, 55.1 million domain names were registered. Of those, 51.5 million were canceled and refunded just before the 5 day grace period expired and only 3.6 million domain names were actually kept. Source: http://www.bobparsons.com/WhyyoucantgetthedomainnameyouwantGoDaddyrescuesRegisterflycustomers.html However, what happens when the group that is using underhanded tactics is the “accredited” registrar, you have to trust in order to do business? Welcome to Network Solutions dirty little secret. On January 8, 2008, I did a search for a couple of URLs that were playing around in my brain. I did the search for a number of names through Network Solution’s search engine, and found two that were available. Unfortunately, this Internet registrar is still living in the past, and insists on charging an exorbitant fee to register a site with them. Even as a “Gold VIP,” my costs on Network Solutions are substantially above the price I pay on other sites.
Popping over to GoDaddy.com to register the new URLs, I searched the new names, and then had to answer a call at work before I got back to purchase them. I got a rude shock when both names showed up as taken. I went back to Network Solutions and saw they were still available. At first mistaking the situation, I thought that GoDaddy.com had taken my search and purchased the names, so I called them and asked them about the situation. A representative for their company was surprised and said of course they would NOT do such a thing. When I pointed out the URLs were still showing available on Network Solutions, the GoDaddy representative said perhaps Network Solution’s system was just behind on updating their information. She referred me to Verisign’s WhoIs search, which is apparently the primary database for assigned URLs, which also showed the URL as taken. By this point, I was pretty sure who the predator was. I called Verisign, and asked for a representative who could help me with some information on the registrars. Jesus came on the line and talked with me a bit about the rules and regulations. He pointed out that there is not any sort of government agency to oversee the registrars, there is only ICANN. AS I explained what appeared to be happening on Network Solutions, he mentioned that some groups “domain taste,” where they register up a URL for a short time and test it to see if they can monetize it, then they cancel the registration and get their money back if it doesn’t reach certain benchmarks. I asked if that was illegal, and Jesus said no, that there was not any laws that controlled it. They were not supposed to hold addresses, but there was no way to tell what was happening from his viewpoint. At Verisign, they could see an address shows up as registered and then a few days or weeks later, it is released. After talking with Jesus, I popped over to Wikipedia to see what was available on Domain Tasting. According to Wikipedia, ”Domain tasting, is a practice of registrants using the five-day "grace period" at the beginning of a domain registration for ICANN-regulated generic top-level domains to test the marketability of a domain name. During this period, when a registration must be fully refunded by the domain registry, a cost-benefit analysis is conducted by the registrant on the viability of deriving income from advertisements being placed on the domain's web site. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_tasting My next stop was ICANN. I took a look at their website, and then called to talk to a representative. After being put on hold for a short time, I was referred to the website for my information. After saying that I wanted to talk to a representative for comment, not look through their website, I was placed back on hold, and finally gave up after being left there for 25 minutes. Looking through their website, I found the answer to at least a couple of my questions. First, ICANN is not a government organization. It is a nonprofit corporation formed in 1998 and headquartered in California, however, it operates under a Department of Defense contract. Second, Network Solutions is in violation of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement: 3.7 Business Dealings, Including with Registered Name Holders in at least these two sections: 3.7.3 Registrar shall not represent to any actual or potential Registered Name Holder that Registrar enjoys access to a registry for which Registrar is Accredited that is superior to that of any other registrar Accredited for that registry. 3.7.4 Registrar shall not activate any Registered Name unless and until it is satisfied that it has received a reasonable assurance of payment of its registration fee. For this purpose, a charge to a credit card, general commercial terms extended to creditworthy customers, or other mechanism providing a similar level of assurance of payment shall be sufficient, provided that the obligation to pay becomes final and non-revocable by the Registered Name Holder upon activation of the registration. Source: http://www.icann.org/registrars/ra-agreement-17may01.htm#3 By locking out a searched terms for 4 days, Network Solutions forces the buyer to choose their service, or risk having someone else search and purchase their URL during the four days that it’s off the market. It also moves Network Solutions into a priority position over all other registrars for that four days in violation of section 3.7.3. According to 3.7.4 a registrar is not allowed to activate a Registered Name or URL until it has received payment from a customer. Obviously, Network Solutions is in flagrant violation of this provision of their contract, and in doing so are causing economic harm to both the buyers who are deprived of their ability to purchase from a lower cost provider, and the other registrars who are no longer on the equal playing field that is provided by their ICANN certification contract. To make sure that what I thought was happening, actually was, I went back to Network Solutions and ran a test. I did a search for two website names what were available as .coms. Then I opened windows for GoDaddy.com and Verisign, and checked their systems every couple of minutes. It took under 10 minutes for the names to show up as taken on Verisign and GoDaddy, as Network Solutions locked them out. It’s interesting to note that on the “WhoIs” search on Network Solutions, the name is shown as not taken, even though the WhoIs registry is supposed to mirror the main one on Verisign. Another interesting point to note; Network Solutions only locks down .com names in this manner. The search that I did for a .net did not result in the same consequences. On January 8th, the same day that I was running my tests and doing the research for this article, a user placed a notice on a blog warning people away from Network Solutions after encountering the same problem I did. This spurred a rash of blog entries around the Internet, which in turn prompted a response from Network Solutions as follows: Source: http://about-networksolutions.com/customer-protection-measure.php It’s interesting to see the spin Network Solutions has placed on such a flagrant violation of their contract. However, Network Solutions was true to its word, after four days my website names were released and I was able to purchase them through GoDaddy.com. It was nerve-racking four days waiting to see if my website names would still be available. I was one of the lucky ones. Of course, there was nothing noble about the release of the names. There is only a five day grace period, before the registered name has to be finalized. Now that Network Solution’s dirty little secret is out of the bag, it will be interesting to see whether or not ICANN takes steps to enforce their contract, or whether the other registrars join forces to go after Network Solutions for interference of prospective economic gain, or whether perhaps a class action suit takes place with Network Solutions under fire for locking individuals into purchasing their domain names at inflated prices. Time will tell.... © Copyright 2003 by ClassBrain.com |
