Network Solutions gets involved into cyber-squatting scandal

24th January 2008

One of the largest registrars of domain names, the company Network Solutions was accused of cyber-squatting, i.e. attempts of illegal capturing domain names.
Recently at the company's website a new service has been introduced. All requests of users to whois-service of Network Solutions are remembered. If the user enters the name of a free domain, but does not register it in the company, Network Solutions registers this domain for itself. The domain is blocked for 4 days, and during this period, a person who made a request may as a matter of priority get the desired domain, paying $ 35 for it, which is the double cost of the average registration. If after 4 days the domain owner does not appear, the domain name becomes available again to everyone by its usual price.
Network Solutions said that the new serviceâ€™s main aim was the protection of domain names that users for any reason did not manage to register at once. However, both users and other registrars believe that such service is unethical and violates the code of registrarsâ€™ honour.
Meantime, the registrar itself does not exclude the possibility of abandoning this controversial service.