If you don't immediately buy a domain you lookup through Network Solutions, they will hold it hostage for four days at a price $25 more than what you normally would have paid. [DomainToolsBlog]
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Scum.
I guess Network Solutions has been around for so long that I thought they would be above this sort of thing. I thought wrong.... :(
Can't you just buy it from another domain registrar?
Apparently not. Network Solutions is able to "place a hold" on the name for a short period of time after it is looked up. There was a discussion about this today at the Business of Software forums, and a few tests run. Also, someone posted a response from NS about it:
[discuss.joelonsoftware.com]
Years ago, they did the opposite to me. A domain I wanted had expired wasn't released, so I called to find out about it. A few days later, it became available and I was able to snag it.
@thetango: That's precisely why they do this kind of thing. They were the first registrar, and so have gotten so much power (despite ICANN bylaws) that they can still pull this kind of crap -- am I the only one who remembers Site Finder? Then they sit there and try to justify their rogue behavior until there's enough of an outcry, cancel the power grab, and claim to be studying how they can do it again without enraging the Internet community all over again.
ICANN is a joke -- there's domains out there that have been "parked" or turned into "search engines" or otherwise held hostage for ridiculous prices, not being used, when real people want to put those sites to real use. Then there's "domain tasting" which is what you're seeing here.
I'm not sure how accurate this is. I looked up 4 names on Netsol just yesterday and within 30 min went on over to register them else where, no problems.
Its accurate, I just went to Netsol and looked up f*cknetworksolutions.com, 30 seconds later I looked it up on godaddy and it was taken by Netsol (it also says you can purchase the domain from Netsol if you liked)
@chili_dog: I did a couple tests today and both were snapped up by NS a few minutes after I searched. They had a discussion over at reddit about this [reddit.com]
Some of the URLs are NSFW.
They've pulled similarly underhanded tricks since they were spun into a business. NSI is not a company I'd ever choose to do business with.
@mbouchard: Confirmed. I just did one at Netsol and it's unavailable at godaddy or register.com.
I'm curious to see how I can enter a search at netsol, and literally in less then 1 min be listed as unavailable at godaddy.
@Shadowman615: So... Basically, Network Solutions responded by saying that they're doing this (snatching a domain you merely searched for in the database) to protect you from other parties who snatching domain names? Am I getting this right? How could a third party snatch it from you unless they knew what you were thinking? My head asplode.
I just verified it. Checked a domain from the OSX command line with whois, not registered. Checked it on NetSol, it also shows as available. Waited a few minutes, did a whois from OSX again, and it is indeed registered to NetSol.
What's outrageous is the price.....35 bucks a year. I register my domains through NameCheap and paid under 10 bucks for a year, I think it was 8 bucks and change.
And that extra $25 you'll spend at NetSol gets you absofuckinglutely nothing. They don't offer anything that NameCheap doesn't. And with NameCheap, I got free whois privacy....something NetSol charges you for. Why people even go with NetSol for their registrar is beyond me
This stuff has been going on for ages. There's been some form of this scam being reported since the late 90's. Here's a tip: want a domain? Buy it right away. That simple.
@Digital Gimpus:
That is perfectly reasonable. But what if, by some strange coincidence some people are saavy shoppers - and decided to comparison shop to see who they would rather do business with?
This would be like if I was looking at Bob's used car lot, liked a car I saw at the competing car lot with friendlier people and Bob sees this and buys the car and jacks up the price on his lot before I can close on the deal.
Sounds like what GoDaddy used to do...