Network Solutions Responds to Front Running Accusations
Following a post on the DomainState forum today, a number news and blogs have criticized Network Solutions for front running domain names that customers try to register. (See for instance today's report on DomainNameNews).
Context & Ripple Effects
Network Solutions is responding after a DomainState forum post set off a wave of news and blog criticism claiming the registrar registers domains itself when customers search for them but delay buying — the front running charge picked up same-day coverage at Domain Name News. The accusation lands on ground already plowed by the Associated Press's October 2007 probe into insider domain snatching, which had put registrar self-dealing on the record months earlier.
What makes this round different is the speed and spread of the reaction: a single forum thread within hours became syndicated press coverage, forcing an official company response rather than letting the claim die as forum chatter.
First-order effects
- Network Solutions' reputation as a neutral registrar is directly at stake — customers who search for available names now face the possibility the registrar holds or registers them first.
Second-order effects
- Competing registrars gain a trust-based selling point against the largest incumbent, and ICANN-facing scrutiny of registrar conduct intensifies following the October 2007 AP probe.
Third-order effects
- If forum-and-blog accountability keeps forcing registrar responses, registration practices shift from opaque internal policies toward public commitments — with ICANN as the eventual enforcement venue if self-policing fails.
The trend: Domain registration is moving from a low-scrutiny utility business to one where community reporting and investigative pressure police registrar behavior between formal ICANN actions.