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I've had no problems with dotster for ages (some 20+ domains with them). And they seem to oppose SOPA, so I'm considering moving my remaining domains from GoDaddy to Dotster as well.

I moved to dotster and have been happy.

(Honestly, dude...it's getting old...)

I'd really like to know which companies pulled this scam.

I found one of them. Dotster is the one behind a whole bunch of Vancouver-based registrars.

Has anyone else had any luck tracking down the other companies behind this?

When the article quotes the filing as saying: "thereby precludes competitors from ever entering the .com and .net domain name registration market" That seems a bit misleading, since the icann/verisign agreement is about maintaining the central "whois" database not excluding others from offering registration services.

You will still be able to register domain names through GoDaddy, Dotster or someone else.

The biggest concern here for the rest of us, who want to keep it inexpensive to register domain names, is what will be the cost that is passed along to people and companies registering domain names if the cost of versign's database management service will be rising at a rate "greater than inflation"

Was this contract put out to bid? It seems that just managing a database, running backups and maintaining the software that allows registrars to remotely access it and register new domain names shouldn't be an expense that rises much beyond the rate of inflation.

Theoretically, though, verisign could undercut the registrar competition with a deal like this. Though given its history of milking its customer base for all its worth with fees that are more than double the competition, that seems unlikely.

I will never use GoDaddy again. The differenrtce is only $25, which is about 1/2 hour of my time. Register.com may not be the cheapest, but their stuff always works.

Hah hah! To say Register.com is better at anything is quite amusing. Yeah, they're probably better than GoDaddy but that's not saying much. Ever heard of namecheap.com, active-domain.com, or Dotster? Hell, even Yahoo domains is better than both of them.

FWIW, I'm a very happy customer of registrar Dotster and have been for about six years. Pricing is pretty standard $14.95/year for domains $9.95 to transfer from other registrars. IMNSHO What sets them apart, and makes them worth a bit more than the rock bottom registrars, is that you can reach a real human being in tech support within about 10 minutes.

I should also mention, the other one I was thinking of going with after some research was Dotster.com they had good packages, and did mention CMS support which I use. But they had a little less disk space. They appear to be one of the largest registar's also in a few surveys ive seen.

http://www.dotster.com/

I blame one unscrupulous company for most of the problems in this area, and that's the Domain Registry of America scam where they send out misleading "renewal notices" even though they're not the registrar for the domain. Why these people are still allowed to operate is beyond me.

Dotster makes it easy for me to use a random-looking email address @privacypost.com, which forwards to me but changes periodically. And it's free. I have to use my real physical address, but that's not really a spam problem. If you have your domain registered at your residence and you're concerned about privacy, get a PO box.

I have to wonder how many owners they will be able to successfully contact. It has been a long time since I've actually seen a WHOIS record listing a valid email address. Plus, popular registration services like Dotster now offer email masking as a standard part of domain registration.

I think this is mostly due to the trend of spammers attempting to "steal" domain registrations by doing thousands of WHOIS searches and contacting domain owners.

Could be the place where he is firewalls POP3 (not uncommon). My question is why Hotmail, I have a domain hosted from Hostsave, they include email acccounts I can get through POP3 or their own webmail interface. I'm sure many hosting companies have something similar (dotster has an email only for 19.95 a year)

I'm a fan of Dotster. I've been using them as a registrar and domain server for years and I have no complaints. At $15/year, it's pretty reasonably priced. They seem to be under pretty constant renovations in a good way, updating services and their interface as time goes on. (Unlike some companies that grow stagnant.)

I'm a big fan of Dotster. They are $14.95/year and have a nice web interface that works well with multiple domains. I know they are not the cheapest anymore, but I've never had a problem with them and I'm not going to change to try and save $7/year.

Also to I like that they are very active trying to keep Verisign and ICANN in line. They also are good about putting out warnings about domain scammers like "Domain Registry of America" and there likes.

I visited http://www.ewrljighwerlghkg.com/ and I got a page which appears to belong to dotster, which is actually my registrar of choice...

<img src="http://futurehome.dotster.com/images/transfil l.gif" width="1" height="10">

Is the segment of the html which I am examining.

One is using Dotster. They obfuscate your email address, so you won't be spammed so easily, but they can still contact you. A friend of mine nearly lost his domain because he used a fake email address with Network Solutions and he never got the "your domain is expiring" email.

The other is a finding a trustworthy ISP/hosting provider who will manage your domain for you. I've been using HostSector and it's worked well, plus it's less expensive than buying the domain outright. I'd have to jump through some hoops to purchase the domain from them, but I can do it, and I believe their contract specifies that I can purchase it at any time.

I have 3 domains registered with Dotster. One was originally a NetSol, and transferred without hassle. (caveat: that was about 3 years ago) The others were initially registered with Dotster. Service is good, and management is through a smooth web interface. They don't PGP-sign their email notifications, but that's the only point above that they miss, I think. $14.95 a year, and they always have a deal for transfers (currently $8.95 with a year extension included).

When I signed up with a domain from Dotster, all I had to do to transfer the account was to put in the right WHOIS info and wait a few days. Cost me $14 USD for the transfer and a one-year registration, and I escaped from the evil clutches of the InterNIC, or NSI, or whatever they were calling themselves, for good.

A little insecure, but maybe worth a try.

--Dan

Ebay scans domain registrations for anything remotely resembling ebay.com. NASABay would probably get the same form letter one of my sites did a couple weeks ago.

Got $15 to blow? Go register anything with -bay in the name on Dotster. Watch your inbox for the form letter from "Edith" at Ebay Legal...

I really like Dotster.

Definately have a look at Dotster - Aside from offering great low rates, they also have an incredible web interface, and a ton of add-on features like parking, DNS hosting, and the like. They also allow you to generate reports every way you could imagine, and allow you to make "global" contact changes for all your registered domains. I've never had a problem with them, or their DNS hosting services (which they do via nameresolve.com). I have no reason whatsoever to look elsewhere. :)

I'm the technical contact and have always been and Dotster have gone out of their way to try to help me as well with no success. When I switched providers each time it was I who updated the DNS records. Not one of my webhosting providers has ever touched the dns records to my knowledge.

I personally think dotster is the best. They have great online management tools and bulk management tools for managing all your dumb novelty domains at once.

They're cheap and the customer support is good too.

I don't work for them, I just like them, disclaimer, etc.

According to Dotster, http://www.vivsucks.com is still available. If I wasn't so poor, I'd register it myself. Would someone be kind enough to purchase it and donate it to the guy who just got the shaft from WIPO?

It is kind of funny to think that www.vivendiSucks.com will probably redirect to www.vivendi.com... Kind of like if www.MicrosoftAKAUltimateEvil.com redirected to www.microsoft.com...

Now I have all my domains registered with Dotster, who are a joy to deal with. Everything is quick and web based, the site is decidedly non-Byzantine and has loads of nifty features, and they're pretty damn cheap too.

Disclaimer: I do not work for Dotster. I just like 'em a lot.

--

We noticed an interest in lower priced domain names so here you all go:

$10.00 per year at Dotster

Click through this link to receive $10.00 per year pricing on all com, net, and org domain names. There is no limit to how many domains you can register and there is no limit to how many times you can visit the URL above to receive this special pricing.

Enjoy :)

Just use Dotster. Better service, security and admin utilities than Network Solutions. And you can use any words you like, including the seven dirty ones. I checked and this domain:

piss-shit-fuck-cunt-motherfucker-cocksucker-tits.c om

; is open and available for registration via Dotster. Proof you can use as many dirty words as you'd like in your domain name.

Some day I hope to have a .plan.

Personally, I use Dotster as my registrar (US based). I just checked, and they don't appear to be censoring anything. Their regular price is $15/year, but if you're patient, they often have $10 specials.

dotster.com provides domain registration service that doesn't reveal the billing contact. A few posters have brought up the rationale that it's necessary so that people know who to contact in case of abuse from or to the site. That's fine. Technical and administrative contacts SHOULD be public information. But really, what would justify a third party knowing your billing information? The link above provides a good median between the two. Not to mention that (AFAIK) it isn't NSI.

I have had nothing but good experiences with Dotster. I have transfered all (4) of my domain names from NSI and Register.com to Dotster and have never had even the slightest problem. When I send an email to customer support I get a reply within 24 hours that answers my question, not some automated response. When I call them on the phone I get a human being to talk to. I think the key to getting rid of Network Solutions is for people to stop the useless complaining and transfer all existing domains to other registrars and register all future domain names with other registrars. Who cares which registrar you use, just don't use NSI. It has been my experience (at least with Dotster) that all of my transfers were carefully checked and rechecked and verified and reverified by a human before they submitted the transfer request to the registry. I didn't see how anything could have gone wrong. There should also be no worries about a registrar going out of business. You are not going to lose your domain name if this happens. The domain name will go into escrow and will be given to a registrar that is still in business. You can then always transfer out if you do not like that registrar. All this talk and no walk accomplishes nothing. Get your domain names out from NSI and never look back. Also, dont use Domain name buyers guide, or whatever they call themselves, their ratings are haywire and make no sense whatsoever. If you want to check out other registrars, go to ICANNs web site and see the list of current registrars. Then you can make your own decision as to which on to use.

I do some web hosting for small businesses and individuals. Since I read about Dotster here on /., I've registered 19 domains with them. It's been problem-free and the web interface is light years better than NSI's stupid email-based crap. I am concerned, however, about 3 personal domains I've had for some time that are still over at NSI. I'd like to move them, but I don't want them to disappear into a black hole, and NSI just seems to be getting more aggresive about losing existing domains to other registrars.

======
"Rex unto my cleeb, and thou shalt have everlasting blort." - Zorp 3:16

If it applies to all, then shouldn't ICANN have a say in the matter? If it is only with NSI, then we shouldn't be surprised... we realized long ago that they weren't the best registrar to use.

btw, I use dotster as my registrar ($15US/year last time i checked)

You can add the fact that his website is nonexistant! Guess what - it's not just down, it's a vailable for registration! He is SO a sham!

From dotster's terms: Dotster may modify the Dispute Policy at its sole discretion at any time. Your continued use of the domain name registered to you after any such Dispute Policy modification shall constitute your acceptance of this Agreement and the modified Dispute Policy... You further agree and acknowledge that Dotster may make publicly available, or directly available to third party vendors, some, or all, of the domain name registration information you provide, for purposes of inspection or for targeted marketing...You also agree that Dotster shall have the right in its sole discretion to suspend, cancel, transfer or otherwise modify a domain name registration upon seven (7) calendar days prior written notice and after such time as Dotster receives a properly authenticated order from a court of competent jurisdiction, or arbitration award, requiring the suspension, cancellation, transfer or modification of the domain name registration.

From processing innovations': By using the Services under this Agreement, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by all terms and conditions of this Agreement and any pertinent rules or policies that are or may be published by us...You agree, during the period of this Agreement, that we may: (1) revise the terms and conditions of this Agreement; and (2) change the services provided under this Agreement. Any such revision or change will be binding and effective immediately on posting of the revised Agreement or change to the service(s) on our web site, or on notification to you by e-mail or regular mail as per the Notices section of this agreement, Section 20. You agree to review our web site, including the Agreement, periodically to be aware of any such revisions....You agree that we may, in our sole discretion, delete or transfer your domain name at any time.

I'd say this calls for a Stallman-esque boycot of NSI. Find out about places like dotster.com or processing innovations (I have a domain registered with each). This is absolute bull****, and I'm sorry to see the community diving for shelter. How many /. readers sit in a position to select which registrars their company uses? Just a few, I'd guess...

My .02
Quux26

sounds like you picked the wrong competitor to try..I used dotster.com (a /. advertiser) and I've had nothing but success.. and it only cost me fifteen bucks.

YOU AGREE THAT DOTSTER WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY (a) SUSPENSION OR LOSS OF THE DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION IN YOUR NAME

which later includes

(f) EVENTS BEYOND DOTSTER'S REASONABLE CONTROL; (g) THE PROCESSING OF THIS APPLICATION;

I wonder if NSI would go so far as to revoke domains from people who attempt to change registrars. It would be a hell of a way to keep clients. At least if they do, dotster will be happily protected from liability.

Other registrars have similar forms.

Dotster Rocks! 45$ a year for planetmofo.com, org and net? The cost difference alone paid for my first 3 months of hosting. NSI is a dinosaur, and should be treated as such. 'course, dotster hasn't been involved in a lawsuit yet, that'll probably change my opinion.

I LOVE dotster.com. I paid $15 flat for a domain, no Network Solutions fee like InterNIC tacks on. I think they are now $25 flat fee for a year, and you get discounts and stuff. I think you cna get a name for 10 years for like $150. The site charges NO fees for moving URLs, and you have a web based login, where you can manage your accounts, change where your URL is pointing to, etc. I have friends who used InterNIC who have switched to Dotster for both price and ease of use. In otherwords, unlike InterNIC, you do not have to spend time on the phone with them simply to get a domain relocated.

I registered sparkyb.net for $15/year from doster.com. They were great and easy. You are on your own as far as DNS but I got Public DNS to work after a week of playing (www.granitecanyon.com). Doster has now raised their rates to $25/year. I'm glad I registered for 5 years in advance.

This is funny. Dotster is using Register.com as their domain registrar. Hmm...

Domain Name: DOTSTER.COM
Registrar: REGISTER.COM, INC.

I just registered my latest domain with Dotster - fast, cheap ($25/year regular, $15 to reserve a domain and use their name servers (another $15 when you want to activate it)), and more convenient and secure methods of changing your records. www.dotster.com

Apparently Network Solutions was legally required to make it possible to change registrars - but they weren't required to make it an easy process, and they definitely didn't! I'd love to change all my other domains over to Dotster, and someday, I may take the time and trouble to do it...

Dotster.com is what I used, and they gave me quick service and their registration fee was only $15/year(don't know if it's still that cheap though), which is $20 less than all other services. I highly recommend them.

-Julius X

Go with Dotster. They'll do everything for you for something like $35, or if you want to DIY, it's only $15 / year. They're reasonably quick, and their site is fairly easy to sue as well.

www.dotster.com was having a special on registrations until the end of the month--US$15 for one year. I don't see that special listed on their web site any more, however. The regular price is US$25, which is pretty easy to find elsewhere these days.