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VeriSign/NSI Proposes Domain Name Wait Listing Service

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the step-one-underpants-step-three-profit dept.

David Harris writes: "Newsbytes and the folks over at DotcomScoop.com have good stories about VeriSign's proposal to start a "Wait Listing Service" (WLS) that would allow consumers to buy domain names before they expire. As with anything that has to do with VeriSign/Network Solutions the "WLS" ain't all it cracked up to be and there is opposition from the ICANN community. I'm not sure I like the idea of auctioning off domains before they expire either." CD: To quote Don Marti: "DNS is a consensus reality."

1 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. What happens if the name doesn't expire? by guttentag · · Score: 5, Funny
    Perhaps I missed something in both articles. I don't see any mention of how this system is supposed to work, but here's what I envision:

    January 2002

    • My domain name expires in 6 months.
    • My neighbor wants my domain name, so he pays NetSol $50 to be waitlisted.
    June 2002
    • I log on to netsol.com and renew my domain for another year.
    • NetSol takes my renewal money and keeps some or all of my neighbor's money.
    • My neighbor is SOL (but he'll get another chance next year!).
    IIRC from the college entrance experience, "waitlisted" is not a guarantee. It's a "we'll see." It sounds like NetSol is forming an online gambling institution: people pay NetSol for the right to purchase a domain name in the event that the current doesn't renew.

    That's like going to the only real estate agent in town and giving him money to guarantee you your neighbor's house in the event that your neighbor decides to sell. In fact, you have to do that this becomes the only way you can buy an existing house in town because if you don't someone else will.

    :::GASP:::

    Could the proverbial "abuse of absolute power" we've all heard about in fables but never seen with our own eyes?

    I think there's a way around this. Contact the owner of the domain you want and ask if he's going to renew. If he's not going to, offer to buy it from him for half of what NetSol would charge for the waitlist fee. That way you save money, the person who was dropping the domain makes some money, and NetSol doesn't get anything it hasn't earned.