Domain Front Running: Why Network Solutions Gets A Free Pass
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Thursday, 21 of February , 2008 at 2:16 pm
(Source) Last month, NetSol came under fire for automatically registering domains that customers had searched for on their site and then jacking up the price of the domains for a four-day period. NetSol defended the practice as protection against frontrunning, which is the practice of registering a domain someone is searching for and then jacking up the price.
(Source) Last month, NetSol came under fire for automatically registering domains that customers had searched for on their site and then jacking up the price of the domains for a four-day period. NetSol defended the practice as protection against frontrunning, which is the practice of registering a domain someone is searching for and then jacking up the price.
Whenever someone says they are doing something for your own good, look out! You’re about to have your pocketbook stolen clean out of your pocket.
Network Solutions seems to be doing just that. By engaging in domain front running in order to prevent domain front running, the domain registrar is effectively circumventing good business ethics in the name of good business ethics. In order words, the ethics don’t apply to them.
But a lot of people disagree.
Domain tasting has been a problem for quite some time and ICANN has done nothing about it. It appears they’ll do just as much to curb the practice of front running. It looks like domain tasters, kiters, and front runners all get a free pass.
But the problem for Network Solutions is that is has an upper hand, even against other front runners, tasters, and kiters. Being in control of the domain querying process on its website, they are privy to information about what domain names people are querying before anyone else. That gives them a huge edge and could be the equivalent of inside trading, which is a serious crime, as homemaker celebrity Martha Stewart can attest to.
Domain front running, tasting, and kiting take good domain names away from people who will put them to good use and could be - and should be - considered anti-competitive business practices. Until ICANN and other industry authority figures see it that way they will likely not be able to put a stop to it.
Category: Domain Names
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Comment by Shashi Bellamkonda
Made Friday, 20 of June , 2008 at 10:51 am
Nick: It’s been a while since you covered this. We have an update from my company on this matter, Network Solutions. In Paris next week, ICANN can vote for an important resolution to end front running for once and for all. Network Solutions is advocating that ICANN acts now, and we have published an official statement on our web site to that end. Please excuse this URL, but given the seriousness of this issue, it was appropriate to provide a link: http://tinyurl.com/63yaox
Comment by namecritic
Made Monday, 23 of June , 2008 at 6:30 pm
Hi Shashi. I’m Chris McElroy. I’m sure you know my feelings on the whole frontrunning issue. I took offence at your company saying they were holding the domain names when people searched for them to “protect the user”.
If that were true, you would have offered to hold the name in my name so only I could register it. Your company held the name in the company’s name where anyone could register it so long as they did so at network solutions.
Network solutions did that and still does that to benefit themselves not to benefit registrants. To claim otherwise is a lie.
I noticed that after the lawsuit was announced that a popup now appears after serching a name and not registering it where you ask the user if they want you to hold it. It’s still misleading since you are not holding it just for the user reading that popup. You are still holding it so anyone wanting to register it has to do so at netsol.
I agree there are people who monitor domain searches so they can take advantage of the grace period to register those names. However, netsol has done nothing to stop them. Netsol has just tried to make sure that those who are doing the frontrunning have to pay netsol instead of another cheaper registrar. In other words, guaranteeing that you profit from frontrunning.
If you truly wanted to protect the consumer, then you would offer to hold the domain name for 5 days under the consumer’s name so only they could register it.
It’s easy to fool people who do not understand the process isn’t it?
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