[council] Ignore or investigate? << FW:Network Solutions Extortion>>
Title: Message Apparently, this person is aware enough to find NC member
e-mails.
Roger,
what is your comment on the avaiability or non-availability of this domain
name.
How
much of this is true?
Peter
de Blanc
-----Original Message-----
From: Joy Muehlenbein [mailto:joy_m@mindspring.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2001 11:56 PM To: web-comments@networksolutions.com Cc: vcerf@mci.net; apisan@servidor.unam.mx; pdeblanc@usvi.net; mcade@att.com; rcochetti@verisign.com; greg_ruth@yahoo.com; mueller@syracuse.edu; kstubbs@dninet.net; cchicoine@thompsoncoburn.com Subject: Network Solutions Extortion For two years, I have been trying to purchase the
domain name "NovelProducts.com" for my parents' company, Novel Products, Inc. I
have contacted the owner to try to persuade him to transfer ownership to us, but
he wouldn't...even though he has never actually had a site at the address for
the entire two years. Now, according to the WhoIs database, the domain expired
on April 24, 2001. Since it's expired, I expected to be able to purchase it.
But, after spending hours on the phone with Network Solutions' sales and
technical support trying to figure this out...and getting 5 different stories
about when the domain name will be available for purchase (I heard everything
from 2 weeks to 5 years!)...I just want a straight answer. If the name is
expired, I assume no one is making any money on it. I want to give you money for
what should be an available domain name, but you won't let me! Not only that,
but you are not allowing other registrars to provide registration of this (and I
assume many other) domain name(s). And now, you have this "back order" option,
where for $50 I can leave it to Network Solutions to nab the name when it
becomes available (although there is apparently no guarantee of this). This is ridiculous and completely
unethical. You control the
database. The name is expired. It
should be available, but you won't release it. Now you want to extort $50 so I have to
register with you rather than another company. This all seems very wrong to
me...you are holding domain names hostage! If it's not illegal, it should be!
What is the deal?!!
I have sent this to all contacts I could find on the site and have never received a response. I want a response and I will keep sending this until I get one. Sincerely, Joy Muehlenbein |