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Network Solutions, ICANN Sued Over Domain Frontrunning
David Utter
Staff Writer
2008-02-25
 Security News RSS Feed
A filing in US District Court for the Central District of California seeks satisfaction from ICANN and Network Solutions over the latter's practice of locking up domains searched for through its site.
The lawsuit claims frontrunning cost US searchers who registered domains through Network Solutions millions of dollars that they could have saved by registering with a less expensive registrant.
As people searched for domains through Network Solutions, the company would then lock up the domain for several days unless the individual chose to purchase it from Network Solutions. Unlike lower cost registrars, Network Solutions charges $35 per one-year registrations, as it has for years.
The practice angered a number of people who complained about the practice. If searchers found a quality domain name available, they were forced to either purchase it immediately, or risk losing it to another searcher willing to meet the Network Solutions price.
In paperwork filed by the law firm Kabateck Brown Kellner, they identified the plaintiff as a Florida resident named Chris McElroy. The suit seeks class action status for all US searchers who used Network Solutions to find a domain and subsequently register it.
The lawsuit said McElroy searched on January 31, 2008, for kidsearchnetwork.com at Network Solutions, unaware that the company would register the domain for itself. When he tried to purchase it through registrar Go Daddy, he learned the domain had become unavailable.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN) has also been named in the suit. "Network Solutions is able to perpetuate this course of misconduct only through the acquiescence, tacit approval, and participation of ICANN," the lawsuit said.
ICANN's "Add Grace Period" of five days permits cancellation of domains within that time without requiring payment of a registration fee. This enables Network Solutions to secure the domains as described in McElroy's suit.
The filing of the lawsuit isn't as surprising as the amount of time that it took. Issues surrounding the frontrunning practice sizzled in January, when ICANN responded to the controversy by noting the practice was not specifically prohibited by its rules.
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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