I know I’m not the first person to grumble about Network Solutions and be upset that they continue to have a government-endorsed monopoly in their ownership of the domain registry database, but the latest wave from them is really something. I still have two domains registered directly with them, and as a result, I occasionally get email from them. Today’s missive:
“ICANN requires domain name
registration customers to keep their WHOIS contact information
current. ICANN mandates that outdated contact information can
be grounds for domain name cancellation. To comply with this requirement, we periodically request that customers verify, and if necessary, update their account records.”
Seems fair and reasonable, right? Well, other than the fact that there’s the threat of outdated contact information being grounds for losing a domain name without any definition of what ‘outdated’ means. Is that information that hasn’t been updated in 12 months? 6? A physical mailing address that bounces?
Well, you read on a bit and see the footer information, that includes:
“If you do not wish to receive e-mail promotions from Network Solutions, click here:
http://info1.networksolutions.com/us/…”
So what is this? A promotion? A way for them to force me to see their upsell adverts so that I don’t “lose my domain for out-of-date contact information”?
Hmmm….
I managed to get my last domain moved off of Network Solutions just today. I tried last year but I started a little to late. During the process my registration expired and NS would not affect the transfer until I renewed for another year. 🙁 This year I started a month early. 😉
I’ve been using bargainname.com for several years with about two dozen domains. I’ve not had any problems nor do they send me any “promotional” stuff. Plus, $8.95/year sure beats the NS price.
It was a small bit of hell for me to migrate a domain from NetSol around 4 years ago. Never again.
I’ve subsequently registered numerous domain names at the French registrar gandi.net which I found courtesy of postings at slashdot which noted that a site (now taken down) which reviewed registrars found that the gandi contract was the only one they found out of dozens of registrars that flatly stated that you owned your domain. A lawyer who used to frequent alt.www.webmaster said that a friend who’s an intellectual rights attorney used to exclusively use gandi (which charges 12 Euros/year, or about $12).
I recommended them to three friends, who used them and have had no problems either.