Domain Name "Front Running" Casts A Dark Shadow Across the Internet

Do you know what "Domain Name Front Running" means? This is an important issue right now in January 2008. Recently it was alleged that Network Solutions, the original domain name provider until its monopolistic grip was broken by the powers that be, was grabbing for itself the lookups and even on "WhoIs" searches. Unethical? Yes. Maybe even evil. One wonders if NSI is selling this information to other scoundrels.

The main problem is that any company doing domain name front running would be using insider information to get an advantage on the competition. The competition in this case is you and me, the little consumers. We search for one with certain keywords and key phrases. We find one we like but we may want to think about it for an hour or overnight. We go back to the registrar to buy it but find it is taken. In the old days we would just attribute this to our slow action although there were rumors about this happening even five years ago.

This process is also known as "domain tasting" because you can take your time to determine the name's effectiveness. If you know someone searched for that name you are then even more ethically compromised.

Under current rules of The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a registry can delete a domain name it purchased within 5 days of the initial registration. However, individuals and companies who are not associated with registries are accused of buying the search data from Internet Service Providers and the registries to find the names that were searched for but not purchased immediately.

In fact, at this time this warehousing is not expressly forbidden by ICANN rules but it certainly puts a bad taste in the mouths of consumers. This business does not need any more bad will in the community especially after the demise of a large registrar last year that left a lot of people without domains and websites that took a lot of time and effort. I lost quite a few there myself.

Here is a recent PC World article about this:

http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;712578009

Is the 5 day grace period a bad thing?

Well, I can tell you that the 5 day waiting period saved my weary butt from picking up a domain name just a few days ago. After the purchase I discovered that my choice had too many characters in it so the registrar's computer just cut off the last few characters. The resulting domain name really looked silly and is quite unusable. I did not see any warning about this when I was going through the final payment exercise. The company did not refund the money but gave me a credit for the purchase to be held for another domain name purchase when I was ready.

Be a good Net Citizen and express your displeasure about this issue to your friends and associates. Post it on bulletin boards everywhere. Vote!

Greg Cryns is the owner of Domain Country at http://www.domaincountry.com and Wahm Search Engine at http://www.wahmsearchengine.com