Are .xyz and Network Solutions "Cooking the Books"?

[Ms Domainer]

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Very interesting article at The Domains:

http://www.thedomains.com/2014/06/03/did-networksolutions-com-give-away-free-xyz-domain-names/

According to the article, when someone regs a domain at Net Sol, he/she automatically is "given" the matching .xyz. One has to opt out by going to a separate link.

Indeed, I checked a couple of The Domains samples (both crap domains in any gTLD) in both .com and .xyz, and, yes, they are owned by the same person.

But I noticed something else that's interesting: the registrant email for .xyz is under privacy, but the .com isn't.

Check for yourself:

00938625.XYZ (privacy email)
00938625.com (regular email)

03304cjp64ubzd1.xyz (privacy email)
03304cjp64ubzd1.com (regular)​

I bet that the registrant doesn't even know that the .xyz has been awarded to him/her and that renewal notices won't even go to the registrant.

It does look fishy, I'm afraid.

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[Ms Domainer]

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Very interesting article at The Domains:

http://www.thedomains.com/2014/06/03/did-networksolutions-com-give-away-free-xyz-domain-names/

According to the article, when someone regs a domain at Net Sol, he/she automatically is "given" the matching .xyz. One has to opt out by going to a separate link.

Indeed, I checked a couple of The Domains samples (both crap domains in any gTLD) in both .com and .xyz, and, yes, they are owned by the same person.

But I noticed something else that's interesting: the registrant email for .xyz is under privacy, but the .com isn't.

Check for yourself:

00938625.XYZ (privacy email) -- registered June 3, 2014
00938625.com (regular email) -- registered January 28, 2014

03304cjp64ubzd1.xyz (privacy email) -- registered June 2, 2014
03304cjp64ubzd1.com (regular) -- registered April 16, 2014​

I bet that the registrant doesn't even know that the .xyz has been awarded to him/her and that renewal notices won't even go to the registrant.

It does look fishy, I'm afraid.


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UPDATE: It gets worse: what do you see about the above registration dates (in bold)? It looks like some back dating going on in "awarding" .xyz domains.

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[jmcc]

It would be interesting to get a comment from the .XYZ registry on this. Also it might need proper journalists on the story rather than bloggers.

Regards...jmcc

 

[domainscp]

I agree something isnt right here, that number grew quite a bit from this morning, ns now has 72% of the total registrations over 27k

 

[DnEbook]

https://www.namepros.com/threads/a-new-cause-awaits.825185/#post-4651986

 

[JB Lions]

I agree something isnt right here, that number grew quite a bit from this morning, ns now has 72% of the total registrations over 27k

Just noticed that. http://ntldstats.com/tld/xyz

I tried a random word both at Netsol and Godaddy for .xyz, just typed in blahblahblah and it was taken, haha, what the hell, who would register that. So I added a numeral to the end, just to see how much it would be:

Network Solutions - $80
GoDaddy - $14.95

regs
Network Solutions - 27,584
GoDaddy - 4,561 - unless more numbers are coming in for them, don't know how that works

It cost 5 times+ more at NetSol but they have 22,000 more regs? Not something a domainer would do, they would go for the obvious lower price. Then I read Uniregistry has it for under $10, even lower than GoDaddy and they have 778 regs.

End users? Doesn't seem possible, that kind of number in that short of time. Who knows.

 

[JB Lions]

Raymond just posted that email over on thedomains - http://www.thedomains.com/2014/06/04/network-solutions-has-no-idea-what-i-am-talking-about/

That would explain those great numbers, now we know. Looks like a bunch of people got a free domain.

 

[equity78]

Raymond just posted that email over on thedomains - http://www.thedomains.com/2014/06/04/network-solutions-has-no-idea-what-i-am-talking-about/

That would explain those great numbers, now we know. Looks like a bunch of people got a free domain.

Thanks for the mention JB yeah its been wild, get off the phone with them at 2 am my time then a friend on Twitter says I got the email too, so I updated the post as fast as possible. Been up 40 hours straight crazy couple days in this crazy, crazy business.

 

[equity78]

It would be interesting to get a comment from the .XYZ registry on this. Also it might need proper journalists on the story rather than bloggers.

Regards...jmcc

I assure you John everything on thedomains has been researched and fact checked and the post I just did on Network Solutions involved real reporting with actual phone calls to the participants.

 

[equity78]

https://www.namepros.com/threads/a-new-cause-awaits.825185/#post-4651986

I saw your poll these posts are not paid, XYZ is not an advertiser on thedomains and my post tonight has been to reveal the truth. This is what makes for news in this cottage industry, if people don't like the new gtlds and don't want to hear one word, I get it and respect it, but it is still news and does not mean its paid for. I can't speak for the whole industry but TLDINVESTORS.com and TheDomains.com do not accept paid posts or posts for later perks down the road for anyone. Mike has turned down offers for such requests that were in the five figure range.

 

[Acroplex]

Also it might need proper journalists on the story rather than bloggers.

Quick, call the Washington Post, they need a 'deep throat' about domains.

 

[jmcc]

I assure you John everything on thedomains has been researched and fact checked and the post I just did on Network Solutions involved real reporting with actual phone calls to the participants.

I meant that this could go to mainstream media coverage as it is the kind of story that could develop over the next few weeks. Thedomains does good work but most of the domain industry sites are still very much niche.

Regards...jmcc

 

[jmcc]

Quick, call the Washington Post, they need a 'deep throat' about domains.

Anyone seen that Hank Alvarez recently?

Regards...jmcc

 

[equity78]

I meant that this could go to mainstream media coverage as it is the kind of story that could develop over the next few weeks. Thedomains does good work but most of the domain industry sites are still very much niche.

Regards...jmcc

I see your point does mainstream care though ? I can say TheDomains does get wide traction, and stuff gets picked up on Google news and gets out there.

I thought it was funny the first call I made today to Net Sol the guy said "What is Dot XYZ ?"

 

[Acroplex]

NetSol and XYZ need to come clean about this. It gives the entire industry a bad name.

 

[Acroplex]

Anyone seen that Hank Alvarez recently?

Yeah, he's at HankAlvarez.com :P

 

[jmcc]

I see your point does mainstream care though ? I can say TheDomains does get wide traction, and stuff gets picked up on Google news and gets out there.

If the story is more than just free domains, then it would be interesting. The downside is that it would be making headlines for all the wrong reasons. At the moment it isn't 100% clear what is happening. The registry claims to have gotten paid for each registration but that's a non-denial denial.

I thought it was funny the first call I made today to Net Sol the guy said "What is Dot XYZ ?"

The new gTLDs are very much a domain industry event and most people are unaware of them.

Regards...jmcc

 

[jmcc]

NetSol and XYZ need to come clean about this. It gives the entire industry a bad name.

Definitely. But the important thing is to get to the bottom of the story and determine whether this is some kind of attempt to inflate registration figures or some strange free domain thing. The 5 day figures (AGP) might provide some clues as to what is happening.

Regards...jmcc

 

[equity78]

If the story is more than just free domains, then it would be interesting. The downside is that it would be making headlines for all the wrong reasons. At the moment it isn't 100% clear what is happening. The registry claims to have gotten paid for each registration but that's a non-denial denial.

The new gTLDs are very much a domain industry event and most people are unaware of them.

Regards...jmcc

True it is semantics, a politicians line, we got paid for each domain, that could be .50 just as a hypothetical, so typically you got paid. We know these Net Sol names not getting renewed we do know that.

 

[equity78]