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[registrars] News item about wild card issue.
- To: Registrars Constituency <registrars@xxxxxxxx>
- Subject: [registrars] News item about wild card issue.
- From: "Robert F. Connelly" <rconnell@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 07:13:55 -0700
- Cc: Duane Connelly <duane@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Mieko Umezu <umezu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Sender: owner-registrars@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Dear Registrars:<br><br>
PSI-Japan's accountant clipped the following and sent it to me.
Regards, BobC<br><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>VeriSign Creates Havoc<br><br>
Internet registrar <b>VeriSign</b>
<a href="http://quote.fool.com/uberdata.asp?symbols=VRSN";>(Nasdaq:
VRSN)</a> has come up with a clever moneymaking scheme based on users'
mistakes that has caused an uproar and spawned a lawsuit.<br><br>
Before this week, mistyping or misspelling a Web address would likely
direct you to a "404" error page, indicating the domain name
did not exist. Now, however, VeriSign directs this typo traffic to a Web
page of its own, called Site Finder. There, users might get help finding
their lost site, but they'll also be subjected to advertising.<br><br>
VeriSign has been entrusted by the U.S. Department of Commerce with
overseeing all .com and .net registrations, and its latest actions have
drawn accusations that it's abusing its monopolistic power. Major portal
operators such as <b>Microsoft</b>
<a href="http://quote.fool.com/uberdata.asp?symbols=MSFT";>(Nasdaq:
MSFT)</a> (irony noted), <b>AOL</b>
<a href="http://quote.fool.com/uberdata.asp?symbols=AOL";>(NYSE: AOL)</a>,
and <b>Yahoo!</b>
<a href="http://quote.fool.com/uberdata.asp?symbols=YHOO";>(Nasdaq:
YHOO)</a>, for example, will likely lose significant search traffic to
VeriSign's site.<br><br>
This also means more spam in your inbox. Most Internet service providers
(ISPs) can filter out email that is sent with false return addresses.
Now, however, email that once showed invalid addresses will seem fine to
the filters. The nonprofit Internet Software Consortium is already
offering a patch to member ISPs that will counteract VeriSign's
actions.<br><br>
Yesterday, Popular Enterprises, the parent company of search engine
Netster.com, filed a $100 million lawsuit against VeriSign. The suit
alleges antitrust violations, unfair competition, and violations of the
Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. "Imagine the uproar,"
says Popular Enterprises chief William Marquez, "if the Dept. of
Transportation suddenly decided to direct all the traffic off the
Interstates only to exits with D.O.T. sponsored hotels and
restaurants."<br><br>
VeriSign has remained rather quiet, saying it's only providing a
much-needed service that helps Web surfers rather than directing them to
a dead-end 404 page.<br><br>
With an estimated 20 million misspellings each day, there's a lot at
stake here. We're more inclined to agree with Carnegie Mellon University
professor David Farber, who told The New York Times, "This is not
any old company, but one that has been given a privileged position,
although they are not behaving that way. I think what they've done is
hijacking."<br><br>
Looking at it another way, this is akin to a football team developing
strategies to better compete against its opponents, and then having the
referee change the rules in the middle of the game (and placing himself
in first place in the NFC East).</font><font face="arial">
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