Consumers stand up for their rights: Network Solutions sued!
It’s amazing where the general populace will act when ICANN won’t.
Network Solutions, a domain registrar, has been under scrutiny because of a policy. You search for a domain that you are interested in there, THEY register it (without your permission), park it (making money), then force you to pay their $35 registration fee (as opposed to every one else’s $7-$10). They can do this with a 5-day grace period where people who buy domains can get a full refund if they decide they do not want the domain (say you spell it wrong etc..).
This is the equivalent of shopping for a car. When you find the exact car you want, the dealership charges you 3X the sticker price and buys all of the same models in the area (or disallows other dealerships to sell it). ICANN is in the USA, they should know about capitalism but obviously don’t support it. ICANN has investigated this issue and “found nothing wrong” but now people are fed up.
The law firm is also suing ICANN for allowing this to go on despite the complaints and concerns. Good for them. No one went after RegisterFly after they lost their ICANN backing (and tens of thousands of people lost their domains because of it). ICANN allowed them to continue on with questionable practices and they’re doing the same with Network Solutions.
It’s good to see that ICANN is (finally) being held responsible for their lack of action, maybe they’ll wisen up and start paying attention to what is actually going on in this industry.