Submitted by dtbaker61 on Wed, 30 January 2008 - 09:29

legal for registrars to speculate and reserve domain names?

I had an odd thing happen yesterday... I queryied the networksolutions.com WHOIS database to check on availability of a specific domain for a client; it was availabe.

Today the client asked me to go ahead and register the domain, but lo and behold, networksolutions.com has registered it, and there is no associated website. Is this coincidence? Did they use my query to automatically 'taste' the domain on the odds that i would be trying to register it and force me to BUY it from them?

In a more general sense... what IS the policy for resolving situations where registrars, or individuals reserve 'likely' domain names with no intention of creating websites? It might be difficult to police this with indivuals since they could put up a simple one-pager saying that the name was for sale. BUT for a registrar to use a WHOIS query to register a domain before you can get to it seems highly unethical.

CAN we control this practice? CAN we make registrars 'release' tasted domains that they do not intend to actually use?

Comments

Front Running

Submitted by Paul Russell on Mon, 04 February 2008 - 02:36.

Just lost two domains by using whois on Network Solutions. They are clearly using their whois to force people to register with them. Is this within the rules? Surly it cannot be that by checking a name you lose it? These people should be kicked off the system pronto. If ICANN cannot do it then the EU should.

It's called front running

Submitted by kieren.mccarthy on Wed, 30 January 2008 - 09:48.

Hi dtbaker,

This is called front-running and it has become an issue of some discussion over the past fortnight.

ICANN is looking at it and has already been in conversation with many of the relevant parties. Expect some discussion of it at the Delhi meeting in just over a week.

Kieren