Network Solutions, LLC is an American-based
technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scie ...
company and a subsidiary of
Web.com, the 4th largest
.com
The domain name .com is a top-level domain (TLD) in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. Added at the beginning of 1985, its name is derived from the word ''commercial'', indicating its original intended purpose for domains registere ...
domain name registrar
A domain name registrar is a company that manages the reservation of Internet domain names. A domain name registrar must be accredited by a generic top-level domain (gTLD) registry or a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) registry. A registr ...
with over 6.7 million registrations as of August 2018.
In addition to being a domain name registrar, Network Solutions provides web services such as web hosting, website design and online marketing, including
search engine optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as "natural" or " organic" results) rather than di ...
and
pay per click management.
History
Network Solutions started as a technology consulting company incorporated by
Emmit McHenry
''Emmit McHenry'' (born July 12, 1943, in Forrest City, Arkansas), is an American entrepreneur and company builder.
Biography
He grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, attending Stewart Elementary School, Carver Middle School and Booker T. Washington Hig ...
with Ty Grigsby, Gary Desler and Ed Peters in
Washington, D.C., in 1979.
In its first few years, the company focused on systems programming services, primarily in the
IBM environment. Annual revenues passed $1 million in 1982, growing to $18.5 million in 1986.
Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI) first operated the
domain name system
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned ...
(DNS) registry under a sub-contract with the U.S.
Defense Information Systems Agency
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), known as the Defense Communications Agency (DCA) until 1991, is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) combat support agency composed of military, federal civilians, and contractors. DISA pro ...
(DISA) in September 1991. NSI gave out names in the .com, .org, .mil, .gov, .edu and .net
Top Level Domain
A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in ...
s (TLDs) for free, along with free
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol (IP) is the network layer communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet.
...
(IP) address blocks.
The
Network Information Center at
SRI International
SRI International (SRI) is an American nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The trustees of Stanford University established SRI in 1946 as ...
had performed the work under
Elizabeth J. Feinler since 1972.
In 1992, NSI was the sole bidder on a grant from the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
(NSF) to further develop the
domain name registration service for the Internet. In 1993, NSI was granted an exclusive contract by the NSF to be the sole
domain name registrar
A domain name registrar is a company that manages the reservation of Internet domain names. A domain name registrar must be accredited by a generic top-level domain (gTLD) registry or a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) registry. A registr ...
for .com (commerce), .net (network) and .org (organization) TLDs, a continuation of work NSI had already been doing.
NSI also maintained the central database of assigned names called
WHOIS. A contract was given to
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...
to operate the .mil TLD registry, and was also performed by NSI under subcontract.
In May 1993, the NSF privatized the domain name registry; Network Solutions was the only bidder on the $5.9 million annual contract to administer it.
In March 1995, the company was acquired by
Science Applications International Corporation
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Inc. is an American technology company headquartered in Reston, Virginia that provides government services and information technology support.
History
The original SAIC was created in 196 ...
(SAIC) for $4.7 million. At that time, the company managed 60,000 domain names.
Following the acquisition by SAIC, the NSF gave Network Solutions authority to charge for domain name registrations. Network Solutions imposed a charge of $100 for two years registration. 30% of this revenue went to the NSF to create an "Internet Intellectual Infrastructure Fund."
In 1997, a lawsuit was filed charging Network Solutions with antitrust violations with regard to domain names. The 30% of the registration fee that went to the NSF was ruled by a court to be an illegal tax. This led to a reduction in the domain name registration fee to $70
(for two years).
Network Solutions also implemented a policy of censoring domain names. This came to light when Jeff Gold attempted to register the domain name shitakemushrooms.com but was unable to. Network Solutions' automated screening system blocked the registration "because it contains four letters they consider obscene", though the domain name 'shit.com' had been successfully registered.
Network Solutions argued that it was within its
First Amendment rights to block words it found offensive, even though it was operating pursuant to contract with a Federal agency.
Network Solutions' $100 charge and its monopoly position in the market were contributing pressures that resulted in the creation of the
International Ad Hoc Committee
Prior to the globalization of the Internet, its assignment of domain names was administered within the research and academic communities through the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). As the Internet grew to a global service, in the 1990 ...
and a failed attempt to take control of the domain name system, and to the
U.S. Department of Commerce and
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves as the President's principal adviser on telecommunications policies pertaining to the United States' e ...
(NTIA) releasing a
white paper
A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white pape ...
and ultimately contracting with the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is an American multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces ...
(ICANN) to administer the DNS.
In September 1997, the Network Solutions () became a
public company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( l ...
via an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
(IPO).
After the formation of
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is an American multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespac ...
in 1998, the domain name industry opened up to partial competition, with NSI retaining its monopoly on .com, .net and .org but having to recognize a separation between the functions of a registry, which manages the underlying database of domain names, and that of a registrar, which acts as a retail provider of domain names. To achieve this separation, NSI created a "firewall" between the two new divisions of the business, creating separate technical infrastructure, organizations, and facilities. By the end of 1999 the fee for registration had been reduced, from $34.99, to a wholesale rate of $6 per year to registered resellers.
In May 1999,
Jim Rutt was named chief executive officer of the company; he stepped down in February 2001.
In 2000, at the peak of the
dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet.
Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Comp ...
, the company was acquired by
VeriSign for $21 billion in stock ().
On October 17, 2003, VeriSign announced the sale of Network Solutions to Pivotal Equity Group for $100 million.
In January 2006, Network Solutions acquired MonsterCommerce, an
e-commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain mana ...
company in the
Greater St. Louis area.
In February 2007,
General Atlantic, a
private equity firm
A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including le ...
, acquired the company for a reported $800 million.
In January 2008, Roy Dunbar was appointed CEO.
On November 2, 2009, Tim Kelly, president of the company, replaced Dunbar as CEO. Dunbar continued to act as chairman and advisor to the company.
In August 2011,
Web.com announced the acquisition of the company for $405 million and 18 million shares of newly-issued Web.com stock (), which closed at $8.66 per share before the announcement, for a total purchase price of about $560 million.
The acquisition was completed on October 27, 2011.
This was immediately followed by the departure of CEO Kelly, and other leadership. Large scale employee layoffs began the following day as well. By December 31, 2011, over half of the office space in the Herndon, Virginia, headquarters had been vacated, and on March 31, 2012, the company's Belleville, Illinois, office was closed.
In June 2020, Network Solutions revoked the domain name registration of two
hate sites
Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...
(
VDARE
VDARE is an American far-right website promoting opposition to immigration to the United States. It is associated with white supremacy,Sam FrizellGOP Shows White Supremacist's Tweet During Trump's Speech Time, July 21, 2016 white nationalis ...
and niggermania.com) after receiving a demand letter from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a civil rights organization.
2008 domain name front running class action lawsuit
Network Solutions offers a search engine which permits users to find out if a domain name is available for purchase.
[ Unregistered domain names entered into this search engine are then speculatively reserved by Network Solutions.][Domain Name Wire. "Network Solutions Faces PR Nightmare Over Domain FrontRunning"]
January 8, 2008. This "reservation" can be removed by anyone immediately by contacting Network Solutions customer service hotline, or it will automatically unreserve within four days, allowing the domain to be freely registered anywhere. Also, visitors searching for domain names on their website allow the reservation when they click "OK" on the Reservation Confirmation dialog box. Clicking "Cancel" will prevent the domain name from being reserved.
On January 8, 2008, ''Domain Name Wire'' published a story alleging that Network Solutions practices domain name front running
Domain name front running is the practice whereby a domain name registrar uses insider information to register domains for the purpose of re-selling them or earning revenue via ads placed on the domain's landing page. By registering the domains, th ...
. "If you try to register a domain at Network Solutions, but decide not to register it, you won't be able to register it anywhere else", the article says.[ "Network Solutions registers the domain in its company name with the words 'This Domain is available at NetworkSolutions.com'."][ Circle ID reported on January 8, 2008, that Jonathon Nevett, Vice President of Policy at Network Solutions and one of the seven members of the ICANN community who was consulted by the ICANN committee looking at registrar abuse of domain "tasting", as the availability search practice is called,][ had offered a response to the news story stating Network Solutions' policy.][ The policy was "a security measure to protect our customers", said Nevett.][ "When a customer searches for an available domain name at our website, but decides not to purchase the name immediately after conducting the search", Nevett added, "after the search ends, we will put the domain name on reserve."][Circle ID. "Network Solutions Responds to Front Running Accusations" by CircleID Reporter. January 8, 2008.]
/ref> Nevett said that if the domain was "not purchased within 4 days, it will be released back to the registry and will be generally available for registration."[ But once a name was supposedly "reserved" for a potential customer, not only was it not available at any less expensive registrar, but the fee charged by Network Solutions went up to $35 instead of the original fee charged of around $10.
]Jay Westerdal
Jay Westerdal (born 1978) is a domainer and entrepreneur, best known for his work creating DomainTools.com, a web service that looks up historical ownership of a website. The whois service was integrated into Google's onebox in May 2008. He later ...
, one of the seven members of the ICANN community who was consulted by the ICANN committee looking at domain tasting abuse,[ICANN. "SAC 022 SSAC Advisory on Domain Name Front Running", page 10. October, 2007.]
/ref> published an article on ''Domain Tools'' on January 8, 2008, stating that Network Solutions is exposing the domains to domain tasters.[ The domain tasters "will snipe those domain up milliseconds after Network Solutions deletes them", says Westerdal.][ "It is a deplorable action that Network Solutions would announce potential domain names to the entire world", Westerdal added.] On January 8, 2008, Tucows, the largest publicly traded domain name registrar, published an article on its company web site titled "Registrar Reputation and Trust" criticizing Network Solutions policy.[ "Potential Registrants are effectively forced to purchase the domain from Network Solutions for a period of four days at which point the domain is dropped", wrote Tucows employee James Koole.][ Koole says that Tucows has found a way to address the issue of domain tasting and has policies in place that uphold the rights of Registrants.][ "Tucows works to prevent domain name tasting by charging our Resellers a monetary fee on domain name registrations that are cancelled within the five-day Add Grace Period (AGP)", Koole said.][ "Tucows doesn't use WHOIS query data or search data from our API to front-run domain names", Koole added.][Tucows. "Registrar Reputation and Trust" by James Koole]
, January 8, 2008.
On January 9, 2008, ''Cnet'' reported that Network Solutions will soon not register domains when people search for domains from the company's Whois search page, will offer only an "under construction" page for sites that it has reserved, and newly reserved pages won't be linked to the numerical Internet addresses that allow Web browsers to locate the pages.
/ref> Network Solutions will continue to register domains when people search for domains from the company's home page.[
]
Class action and resolution
On February 25, 2008, law firms Kabateck LLP, (then Kabateck Brown Kellner), and Engstrom, Lipscomb & Lack, filed class-action lawsuits, ''McElroy v. Network Solutions LLC, et. al'' and ''James Lee Finseth v. Network Solutions LLC'', against the company for front running, which was settled in favor of the plaintiffs, in 2009.
Controversies
Server breach
In August 2009, Network Solutions notified customers that its servers were breached, and led to the exposure of names, address, and credit card numbers of more than 573,000 people who made purchases on Web sites hosted by the company. Susan Wade, a spokesperson for Network Solutions, said, "We really feel terrible about this". At the time of this writing, NSI does not know how their servers were compromised.
Malware
One year later in August 2010, Network Solutions discovered that one of their widgets offered to their domain registration and hosting customers was capable of distributing malware
Malware (a portmanteau for ''malicious software'') is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, de ...
by sites displaying it. As many as 5,000,000 of their registered domains may have been affected by the hack. The affected widget was at least temporarily addressed by Network Solutions, who were able to make changes to the code to prevent it from loading.
WebLock Service
In January, 2014 Network Solutions' marketing department sent an email to customers stating that the company would be automatically enrolling customers in a new security program called WebLock, for an initial charge of $1,850 for the first year and $1,350 each subsequent year. The company claimed the cost offset new security features to protect domains, including registering as a "certified user" and confirmation of configuration changes with those "certified users".
... To help recapture the costs of maintaining this extra level of security for your account, your credit card will be billed $1,850 for the first year of service on the date your program goes live... After that you will be billed $1,350 on every subsequent year from that date. If you wish to opt out of this program you may do so by calling us at 1-888-642-0265.
Web.com COO Jason Teichman later clarified that the program would actually be opt-in, saying "we did not do a good job in wording that mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
and "It's not our intention to enroll anyone in a program they don't want."
Publishing non-Public Information
In September, 2009, Network Solutions began publishing a list of domain name whois searches performed by customers and other service users in the past day.
''Fitna'' controversy
In March 2008, "Fitnathemovie.com", a website that Dutch politician Geert Wilders had reserved at Network Solutions, was taken offline. Wilders intended to host a film he had created, '' Fitna''. At that time, the only page on the site was a picture of the Qur'an accompanied by the text "Geert Wilders presents Fitna" and "Coming soon". Network Solutions' notice stated that they were "investigating whether the site's content is in violation of the Network Solutions Acceptable Use Policy".[Dutch Islam film website 'shut'](_blank)
BBC Wilders said the 15-minute film will show how verses from the Qur'an are being used today to incite modern Muslims to behave violently and anti-democratically.
As a result of Network Solutions' decision, "fitnathemovie.com" was not available to the public on the day of the film's release. Wilders expressed his displeasure with Network Solutions for pre-censoring the domain name.
Network Solutions also came under criticism because although they refused to host Wilders' website, they had provided registration services for the Hezbollah
Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's paramil ...
domain hizbollah.org. In response to these criticisms, Network Solutions agreed that hizbollah.org violated their acceptable use policy and ceased hosting that web site, as well.
Due to heavy media coverage, many people were aware of the film's existence and the controversy surrounding its domain name. Some were outraged by the actions of Network Solutions in dealing with one of its customers. Freedom of speech protestors created videos commenting on the situation, and some uploaded Wilders' film to social networking sites such as YouTube shortly after its release. Protestors for both sides created their own blogs and video statements on the matter. Anti-censorship protestors took their campaigns to sites such as YouTube in order to alert others of the situation.[Online Protesting](_blank)
Social Media User Protesting On March 23, 2008, Brian Krebs of the Washington Post published an article explaining more facts related to the event. Krebs wrote that Network Solutions spokesperson Susan Wade stated that Network Solutions had received several complaints regarding the website, but she did not elaborate on the specific nature of the complaints.
Controversy over subdomain hijacking
In April 2008, reports indicated that in addition to the aforementioned front-running practices, Network Solutions had begun exploiting an obscure provision of its end-user license agreement
An end-user license agreement or EULA () is a legal contract between a software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware ...
that permits it to use and advertise on its users' unassigned subdomain
In the Domain Name System (DNS) hierarchy, a subdomain is a domain that is a part of another (main) domain. For example, if a domain offered an online store as part of their website example.com, it might use the subdomain shop.example.com .
O ...
s, even despite the registration and private ownership of the top-level domain itself. The provision states:
'You also agree that any domain name directory, sub-directory, file name or path (e.g.) that does not resolve to an active web page on your Web site being hosted by Network Solutions, may be used by Network Solutions to place a "parking
Parking is the act of stopping and disengaging a vehicle and leaving it unoccupied. Parking on one or both sides of a road is often permitted, though sometimes with restrictions. Some buildings have parking facilities for use of the buildings' ...
" page, "under construction" page, or other temporary page that may include promotions and advertisements for, and links to, Network Solutions' Web site...'"
Ars Technica
''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sc ...
has documented how to opt out of this scheme, but many private domain holders and privacy advocates cite the move as another step in Network Solutions' series of recent attempts to push the boundaries of profitability and responsibility in its domain practices.
''Races.com'' controversy
According to a Wired.com article, in 1999 Network Solutions bungled the transfer of "races.com", accidentally placing it back into the pool of available domain names. MBA student John McLanahan purchased the domain privately for thousands of dollars. A domain name speculator was able to obtain it, and demanded $500,000 for its return.
Misleading customers over refunds
In April 2015, the Federal Trade Commission announced that Network Solutions had agreed to settle charges that it misled consumers who bought web hosting services by promising a full refund if they canceled within 30 days. In reality, the FTC stated, the company withheld substantial cancellation fees amounting to up to 30 percent of the refund.
See also
* Domain Name System
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned ...
References
External links
*
{{Dot-com Bubble
Certificate authorities
Domain name registrars
American companies established in 1979
Herndon, Virginia
Web.com
1997 initial public offerings
2000 mergers and acquisitions
Companies based in Fairfax County, Virginia