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Went Hot: January 10, 2008 - 7:21 am
Posted By: Aviva 279 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.domainbits.com)
Category: Domaining
Check out the whois to be sure:
http://whois.domaintools.com/network-solutions-is-going-to-scam-sphinn.com
Read the article to find out why.
12 Comments
Comments
i did a search for network-solutions-uses-their-customers.com at network solutions (which showed as available) and then a follow up search at moniker and dotster. both moniker and dotster showed the domain as taken and a whois query at domaintools.com shows network solutions as the regisrtar.
the missing part of this story though is the registrant/title of the whois record at domaintools.com is listed as This Domain is available at NetworkSolutions.com. the whois website title also links to network solutions to register it. network solutions is still willing to sell you the domain at what i'm guessing is their regular price.
this is a shady way of doing biz though. some whois records simply show the domain as registered without the link and title saying it is available. some folks won't pursue it any further than one search. it also funnels the prospective registrant to network solutions. i've hated network solutions from day one and i guess i will continue.
sorry, the article does mention the bit where some whois records state that The Domain is available at Network Solutions. i missed it in my quick read through it.
nice job pointing this front running thing out, i was unaware of it. thanks.
Shashi Bellamkonda from network solutions replied to a couple of tweets bill hartzer and i made and referred us to his blog for a clarification.
I have to disagree with the reasoning he provides. Shashi says
Read the rest of his post for the full explanation. I don't buy it. They are trapping the potential registration sale and its nothing more than another form of front running in my opinion.
Bill Hartzer also has a post on this Network Solutions fiasco.
Wow, this one takes me back a long way. There was some speculation years ago (I'm talking the 90s here) that if you searched for a domain on one particular ISPs website that they would register it and try to sell it to you to stop you doing it elsewhere. I believe it turned out to be groundless, but this appears to be Network Solutions doing something similar even if their intentions are good.
The only people they're protecting are themselves. They're registering domains that you lookup in their whois! It's unethical in my opinion and I can't believe they're doing it without first asking permission to do so from the user. http://sphinn.com/story/22374
This is old news already.
FWIW, if you're a Network Solutions customer trying to get a new domain it's a very good thing with a somewhat poor implementation because it will let any Network Solutions customers get the domain.
However, if you're not a Network Solutions customers, WTF are you doing on their site running WHOIS and then running to register on GoDaddy or Moniker?
It's all over-hyped BULLSHIT and you all know it,
You know, honestly, I think I agree with IncrediBILL, but I'd rather we had the ability to point out flaws in arguments and overhype and such with a little more objectivity and civility.
That aside, I do think this is a bit overhyped. Network Solutions has responded saying that they do it to prevent their customers from losing domains they searched for. And if you're not a customer of NetSol, why would you use their search?
The real criticism is that NetSol wasn't transparent about this from the get go, and they should also include an option to turn the thing off.
> if you're not a customer of NetSol, why would you use their search?
A lot of people, especially in a corporate environment, search for domains in two steps. First, they check what is available. Then, after taking some time to decide which domain they want, shop around for the best place to register it.
That's fair, but I don't think it's unfair for NetSol to register those domains. Yes, their motivation is to make sure people register the domains with them, but they are providing a service. They don't have to let you search without an account. Like I pointed out, I think the real issue is that they aren't up front about it and they don't let you turn it off.
But if you've been around this industry for very long, do you really use Network Solutions? I would think most people would hate NetSol enough already not to use them. There are plenty of other registrars that will let you search for domains without registering, mydomain.com comes to mind.
I thought I was contributing to the conversation in a reasonable way, I don't see why that got me a -1 in the moderation.
@aviva, your answer makes no sense because you don't start shopping at the most expensive place if you're ultimately going discount shopping for the lowest price.
You can't bullshit a bullshitter.
@ Bill: I use 1and1's search interface because it'll let me put in the KWs i'm thinking of and see what extensions it's taken in. helps me see what the aftermarket is like. but heaven help me if i'll reg anything with them again - they ripped me off for $50 recently, and double billed me and billed me out of the blue before. I'm going to transfer my important domains and get rid of the rest.
btw, I voted you and Andrew's comments up. There are some people here who can't take dissent, unfortunately. That said, it's a valid point of contention you bring up, but the fact remains that it's a bs business practice. What if they taste it and find it's pulling traffic? Promise you that's not going for $35...
Quite an outcry...
http://sphinn.com/story/22817
http://sphinn.com/story/22491
http://sphinn.com/story/22421
http://sphinn.com/story/22374
http://sphinn.com/story/22089
http://sphinn.com/story/22049
http://sphinn.com/story/22032
http://sphinn.com/story/21994