Bill, that’s beyond shady and completely unethical in my book. I hoping the market (users) punishes them accordingly. I gave up on them long ago, I hope your post makes pushes more users away from them until they clean up their act.

That is unreal. What a shiesty technique!

HAHAHAHAHA love it, i just looked up:
networksolutionsarec*nts.com (replace the * with a vowel if “you” will)
Now they own that domain… try it out!
Everyone should be searching the site for domain names they have no intention of using, this way these tools will soon have a large back catalog of useless domains under their belt for being shady lil t*rds (same vowel)
Bonus points if you can insult the company with the domain name and make them own it at the same time!
I say again:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Update: also try: networksolutionsaref*cktards.com and networksolutionsarec*ckheads.com

(* = u and then * = O)

oh this is SOOOOOO much fun…
everyone please do this at least once it will teach these (see above)’s a lesson for being greedy and immoral #%#@)%(@#%’s
hahahahahahahahahahaha
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Hi Bill,

I work for Network Solutions and saw your tweet on Twitter and would like the opportunity to respond, This measure is geared for our customers. It gives them a chance to look for domains consider if it’s what they want and then have an opportunity to register it.

Network Solutions is not front running. “ Front Runners” are people who register domain names known to have been searched, for the purpose of monetizing them and then selling them at inflated prices either directly to the customer who searched for the domain or through aftermarket channels.
We have started protecting all domain name searches at Network Solutions by holding the searched domains for our customers for a short period of time before releasing them. This gives our customers the opportunity to register names later without fear that the name will be registered by a “Front Runner.”
We are not monetizing these domains, nor do we intend to keep them after the holding period.

We did this because we heard customers complain that queried domain names are being snatched up by other people as soon as they searched. Network Solutions makes sure its search data is secure and we do not sell it any third party. I know that Network Solutions has no intention of keeping any searched domain or monetizing it.

Thanks for listening,

Shashi

I don’t care how you spin it, your front running. A visitor to your website is not a customer. You provide a tool that effectively locks domains for a period of time which is front running. Stop spinning stories network solutions.

I just tested this with RyanMarrsIsTheBestHumanOnEarth.com, it does in fact register it. This needs to be digged and blown up to mainstream news. Talk about shady.

Looks like ICANN has already started on this

http://gnso.icann.org/issues/domain-tasting/gnso-initial-report-domain-tasting-07jan08.pdf

Some thing happened to me yesterday. NEVER use Network Solutions when searching for a domain name.. period.

Bill

Good writeup. I’ve always wondered if anybody was doing this. Seems like a pretty good scam, wish I would have thought of it.

- Brian

Wow – they now own goolotagtahhht.com as well.

I sure hope someone doesn’t get angry and create a script that brings this evil machine to its knees by searching for several billion 30+ letter random domain names.

I can’t believe they’re doing this! I have a ton of domains, and thank god I’ve come out okay.

I wonder if some people are even remotely capable of putting the emotions aside for a moment to analyze NetSol’s recent actions and their stated reasons for it.

Now originally, NetSol indeed didn’t put commercial parking pages except a page to register the domain name via their site only. That’s been since replaced by their non-commercial parking pages (just checked one I tested), and their rep posted somewhere they’ll soon be having no content at all.

Next, domain tasting, domain front running, whatever you want to call it, is indeed happening. Various users are being “deprived” the chance to register it at their leisure (although registrars can’t guarantee availability anyway) because of them, and that’s what NetSol’s essentially trying to address.

Unfortunately registrars are also getting the flak for this, even though many themselves aren’t engaged in domain tasting by themselves. Well, I hope anyway, but the one I worked with in a previous life has consistently NOT done this.

The .Org Registry imposed a fee on this and effectively limited this practice for .org domain names. VeriSign could very well do the same, but I guess they won’t for whatever reason.

So more or less everyone is bugging ICANN to do something quick. Until then, registrars are going to do what they can under the circumstances.

It won’t surprise me if other registrars are thinking, “Why didn’t we think of that before?” or “Why don’t we do the same for OUR customers?”. It’s unfortunate if they resort to doing this when it’s really unnecessary, but are nonetheless compelled to.

Of course, no one has to agree. And it’s fine.

Really wish it didn’t have to come to this, though.

WOW! I can’t believe this! That is a horrible business practice.

I knew there was a reason we don’t use Network Solutions to register our domains!

that is SOOOOOOO funny. i didn’t try it myself, as reading these comments had me convinced, but this is both SHADY on their behalf, and funny how everyone here started looking up these names. if I ever want a domain, i’ll just get it right away instead of looking up the availability first. Thanks for posting this.

Dan Thies – Damn, I was thinking of that. Would be worth the few lines of code.

Hey, I just posted a comment. Where did it go???

That is totally messed up if in fact Network Solutions is doing this. I understand free enterprise, but come on!

That’s outrageous! Its strange as I have actually thought this to myself many times when registering domains. Its so easy for a company to do this. Totally unethical, the word on this needs to get out! Least I know to avoid and go elsewhere!

I just searched for networksolutionssucksass.com at Network Solutions. Rechecked it several minutes later at NS and it’s still available. Immediately switched over to GoDaddy and it’s already taken.

Interestingly though, today’s the 24th and Whois says that the record was supposedly created on the 21st. Are they backdating their registrations too, or did someone else already check for this lovely domain name during the registration grace period?

@Shashi – I find your response incoherent, and Network Solutions’ business practices highly unethical.

You said “Network Solutions is not front running.”
Also, “‘ Front Runners’ are people who register domain names known to have been searched, for the purpose of monetizing them and then selling them at inflated prices either directly to the customer who searched for the domain or through aftermarket channels.”

Is not Network Solutions registering the domain name that has been searched for the purpose of monetizing them? Are not Network Solutions prices inflated compared to all the other registrars on the Internet? (GoDaddy is about 75% cheaper.)

You also said “We have started protecting all domain name searches at Network Solutions by holding the searched domains for our customers for a short period of time before releasing them.”

By “holding”, do you mean “registering”? Because after searching for a domain on NetSol and then going to another registrar and performing a WhoIs, it indeed says that the domain name is REGISTERED by Network Solutions. This looks like front running to me.

You also said “We did this because we heard customers complain that queried domain names are being snatched up by other people as soon as they searched.”

You snooze you loose. This is how domain registration works, and part of the competition of registering first. But what NetSol is doing, as a registrar, is a conflict of interested with their potential customers and should be considered HIGHLY ILLEGAL.

And finally, you said “We have started protecting all domain name searches at Network Solutions by holding the searched domains for our customers for a short period of time before releasing them. This gives our customers the opportunity to register names later …”

By “customer”, don’t you mean “potential customer”? Because they haven’t actually bought anything from you.

So let’s review. This is what just happened to me, a POTENTIAL customer:
A potential customer is interested in a domain name. They want to check its availability while they think about it. So they search GoDaddy.com for the availability. They also search search Network Solutions for the availability and check out what addons exist with the domain. Directly after the search is made with NetSol, Network Solutions then registers the domain name. The customer, not making up their mind yet, goes back to GoDaddy. They like what GoDaddy offers and proceed to register the domain name with GoDaddy. But lo and behold, the domain name has already been registered by Network Solutions. The only way the potential customer can buy the domain name now is through Network Solutions. Since timing is an issue and because the potential buyer has no idea of when the domain name will be released, they must proceed and purchase the domain name before someone else does. This FORCES them to buy from Network Solutions. Simply because they looked it up on Network Solutions.

Is the customer able to freely choose at this point?
And how is this not considered monopolistic?

BOYCOTT NETWORK SOLUTIONS.

- BillG

Thanks for the great read. After reading this I must say that I am highly pissed off that a domain registrar, especially one as big as NSI pulls this kind of stuff. Not only do i think this is unethical, but it should be illegal. I often check domain names and wait a little while sometimes before I decide on purchasing them. How upsetting, I will never use NSI.

I’m really surprised that Network Solutions can get away with this. They lock you in, and you have no choice but to purchase it from them if you want that domain name. I’ve heard rumors of GoDaddy doing the same thing, but I have yet to confirm that.

Speaking of ethics and conscience, this is something which can be considered as out of bounds. However, this is the internet…what else is new?

Anyways, you have a mind provoking subject matter in this post. My hats off to you, mate.

Wow, that’s really not a good way to do business…. really shady tactic they use to force people to buy domains off of them. What is it going to be next? I didn’t buy from Network Solutions before just because of the price, and now I will not use them for looking up domains now that I know that.

I wonder if any other companies are doing this. I have heard rumors that GoDaddy does this, but I have no evidence to back that. It’s really a good way to tick off your customers… they should reconsider this practice because it makes them look really bad.

That is absolutely ridiculous…I will make sure I never use them to look up a domain.

It’s been 8 months since this post was first published but it goes to show that on the Internet, this stuff is pretty much forever. I tested to see if Network Solutions was still front running and I was still able to register the domain after an hour of me searching for it. Still, what a way to sully your reputation.

This is crazy! I found this because I heard that Network Solutions did this, and I couldn’t believe that it was true. This exact thing happened to one of my business associates, and it just blows my mind that they would do this… they are supposed to be this huge legit company, and this is how they treat potential customers just to force them into doing business? wow

Network Solutions is now charging $59 a year – just to register a domain. I came here after reading the nasty fine-print on their renewal notice. It says it’s due now, only the domain expires in 2011. Small print tells you that you must renew 59 days in advance. Hah Hah… Not my site. I use namerout/hostroute. My relative will be switching. What a bunch of weasels. Did they all go to Smelly Rodent University?