Network Solutions + Unethical go hand and hand.

[Devil_Dog]

Here's the latest. Try and do a search for some random available name on their site. Make up anything, dkfhgkjhd.com etc etc.

Now go to Moniker or another registrar and attempt to register it.

Name will say unavailable. Wonder why? Because netsol has decided they want to hold that name hostage and force you to reg it at their site for $34.99.

Talk about sneaky, shady, and underhanded.

My advice would be to steer clear of Network Solutions when searching for available names.

Wonder how many other registrars are going to follow the lead.

 

[Mobi Cheap]

Whois Record

Registrant:
This Domain is available at NetworkSolutions.com
13681 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 300
HERNDON, VA 20171
US

Domain Name: 35-DOLLARS-NOW-OR-WE-KEEP-OFFERING-YOUR-DOMAIN-IDEA-TO-OTHERS.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Network Solutions, LLC
13681 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 300
HERNDON, VA 20171
US
1-888-642-9675 fax: 571-434-4620

Record expires on 09-Jan-2009.
Record created on 09-Jan-2008.
Database last updated on 9-Jan-2008 16:10:03 EST.

Domain servers in listed order:

ns1.reserveddomainname.com 205.178.190.55
ns2.reserveddomainname.com 205.178.189.55

 

[unclewalter]

I searched like 50 domains and they are still available?

 

[creature]

Duke comments.

"Over the last 24 hours Network Solutions has taken the fiercest corporate beating I've seen in this industry..........."

http://www.dnjournal.com/lowdown.htm

 

[gazzip]

http://www.network-solutions-is-shit.com/


Looks like they might be coming to their senses, the page now just shows as "This Site Is Under Construction and Coming Soon."



......or maybe they're going to develop them all now :lol:




.

 

[Christopher Hunt]

so now just searching for a domain on netsol means you can't register it from anyone, including them. sweet!

now that's smart business!

 

[-REECE-]

It also just guaranteed that LLLL.coms are going to rise in price even faster than they already were :hehe:


It's probably only going to be a matter of weeks before all half decent brandable (CVCVC/VCVCV) 5L.coms are either regged or being held hostage by NetSol. Some people are working on scripts as we speak to ensure it

so now just searching for a domain on netsol means you can't register it from anyone, including them. sweet!

now that's smart business!

 

[gazzip]

so now just searching for a domain on netsol means you can't register it from anyone, including them. sweet!

now that's smart business!

You can still reg the name if you go to Netsol and do it, they are just not advertising the fact (any more on the landing page) that the name is for sale to others.

I guess they realized it was not a very smart move considering they are supposedly acting on the behalf of their customers.


they are silly billy's :p

.

 

[creature]

Game over.

 

[-REECE-]

The idea itself really is pure genius...

If you can reg names and hold them for 4 days for pennies (if that), why not? I highly doubt they need more than 1:1000 conversion to make this profitable... When you factor in the potential to sell hosting and other related services as well, 1:1000 conversion may be a conservative estimate by an order of magnitude.

 

[notlikeyou]

http://quick-someone-try-to-put-a-pr-spin-on-this.com

 

[Mobi Cheap]

You can still reg the name if you go to Netsol and do it, they are just not advertising the fact (any more on the landing page) that the name is for sale to others.

I guess they realized it was not a very smart move considering they are supposedly acting on the behalf of their customers.
...

Yup, all that's changed is that those beautiful ad filled pages have been replaced with the standard coming-soon page. You can check this freshly regged domain for example:

Whois Record

Registrant:
This Domain is available at NetworkSolutions.com
13681 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 300
HERNDON, VA 20171
US

Domain Name: 35-DOLLARS-NOW-OR-TAKE-YOUR-CHANCES-VERSUS-PROFESSIONAL-TASTERS.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Network Solutions, LLC
13681 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 300
HERNDON, VA 20171
US
1-888-642-9675 fax: 571-434-4620

Record expires on 09-Jan-2009.
Record created on 09-Jan-2008.
Database last updated on 9-Jan-2008 19:05:41 EST.

Domain servers in listed order:

ns1.reserveddomainname.com 205.178.190.55
ns2.reserveddomainname.com 205.178.189.55

 

[creature]

Yup, all that's changed is that those beautiful ad filled pages have been replaced with the standard coming-soon page. You can check this freshly regged domain for example:

.......and they are filtering the registrations all of a sudden. eg they won't register tits-tits-tits.com for some reason. I thought they would want that one.

 

[-REECE-]

They don't seem to mind the ones calling them tasters/cybersquatters, etc though :hehe:

You need a proxy to keep searching after awhile, otherwise they figure you're a domainer with nothing better to do and stop regging what you search for.

.......and they are filtering the registrations all of a sudden. eg they won't register tits-tits-tits.com for some reason. I thought they would want that one.

 

[gazzip]

Yup, all that's changed is that those beautiful ad filled pages have been replaced with the standard coming-soon page.

well, in all fairness to them they did not actually have any pages showing PPC ads - at least, not from what I have seen.




.

 

[Mobi Cheap]

well, in all fairness to them they did not actually have any pages showing PPC ads - at least, not from what I have seen.
.

True.

They had something more profitable than PPC ads - advertisement for their own products.
:imho:

 

[BitRealty.com]

This happened to me yesterday...

This just happened to me. I usually check availability of domains with Netsol and then register them at GoDaddy as I like Network Solutions search tool... Earlier in the day I had checked a domain and it was available... later in the day I decided to register it and went to Godaddy to do so and it was "taken". So I double checked on Netsol again and it was available. I called Netsol and said that I wanted to register it and that I was confused as to why it was showing up as available there but not elsewhere... the rep that I spoke to said that they were now locking domains that were searched and found to be available on Netsol "for our users protection". She said that someone "from some foreign country" was watching which domains were being searched for on Netsol and then registering them and trying to re-sell them at marked up rates to the original searcher(s). This seemed within the realm of possibility but probably way way too much effort for a hijacker to undergo simply because the value of most domains is so questionable and subjective. I eventually got her down to $8.75 per year for the registration (3 year min) but this was still 22% more than what I would have paid at GoDaddy (at $7.15 per .com) for only a one year commitment. I agree with all the posters that I've read and Network Solutions is not only cheating, but also their actions could be deemed illegal. Now that this is out in the open, this has got to be something that can't last or should cause an uproar of some sort.

I also submitted this information to TechCrunch in the hope that they may post something about it that would greater scrutiny of this questionable practice...

Rob
http://www.bitrealty.com

 

[gazzip]

True.

They had something more profitable than PPC ads - advertisement for their own products.
:imho:

yeah, true - maybe they got a shock when they saw what names it had been displayed on :hehe:

 

[Dave_Z]

Hmm, they've finally added bits about this in their FAQ:

http://customersupport.networksolutions.com/category.php?id=178

Sure would've have been nice if they did that before. Or at least maybe sent
a press release announcing this action, maybe?

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

[DomainPawnshop]

Different treatment for infringing domains...

Just noticed a different landing page for obviously infringing names - although they still apparently register them as their own:

Look at buy-dell-computers-from-us .com

And it looks like they also have an understanding with the other registrars. This one wouldn't take when checked:

enom-is-better-than-us .com

 

[Dave_Z]

Found this bit:

http://www.webmasterworld.com/domain_names/3543456-2-30.htm

1)We have changed the current webpage to which reserved domain names resolve to a general under construction page. Additionally, all new reserved names after tonight will not resolve to any page at all.

2)This week, we will be making enhancements that will address the concerns related to disclosure of zone file and DNS server information of the reserved names. This should address some of the concerns recently raised.

3)Very soon we will remove our customer protection measure from our WHOIS search page, so that no domains searched on this page will be reserved. We will continue to reserve, however, domains searched from our homepage.

Sure wish they did that sooner.

 

[creature]

What about the names indexed by google? eg http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?domain=ibm-microsoft-dell.com

 

[DomainPawnshop]

Totally Lost.

First, I used the homepage.

Also... how does a blank "Construction Page" help their customers get the domain that would have otherwise been registered? It makes no sense; but then its the domain name business, right?

 

[Dave_Z]

Also... how does a blank "Construction Page" help their customers get the domain that would have otherwise been registered?

Simple: go to NetSol's page, search, then try to register it. Tried it just now,
just didn't finish it.

 

[h3rm4w4n]

netsol steals .com only or other ext?

 

[Mobi Cheap]

netsol steals .com only or other ext?

Strictly .com only.

The fact that other extensions show as taken - even for domains that are not worth registering in any extension - is a quirk of the system (one hopes).