Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

front-running

Network Solutions amends Net registration process

Network Solutions, a dominant registrar of Internet sites, has stepped back from some controversial elements of a new registration process.

Network Solutions had implemented some changes in an attempt to curtail "front-running," a process in which a company registers a domain name as soon as somebody searches to see if it's available; front-running can turn a registrar into the exclusive holder of a domain and therefore potentially charge more for it than locked-out competing registrars.

The company's changes--which included automatically registering a domain name when somebody searched for it--backfired, and critics accused Network Solutions itself of front-running. … Read more

Registrar denies 'front-running' Net registration

Contrary to claims that emerged Wednesday, Network Solutions said it isn't "front-running" the Internet address registration process, a practice in which a company registers a potential domain immediately after a prospective buyer searches to see if it's available. In fact, the practice that triggered the accusation is an attempt to counteract front-running, the company said.

Front-running can give a registration company an advantage over the customer who wants to register the site--for example by preventing the customer from registering it through a competing registrar or by selling it to the customer at an inflated price.

The … Read more