Thank goodness they're not a monopoly any more...
Written: Oct 06 '00 (Updated Oct 06 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: You're not forced to use them any more!
Cons: Their service has always been terrible.
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| dtobias's Full Review: Network Solutions.com |
It used to be that Network Solutions had a monopoly on domain name registrations. This derived from a U.S. government contract their predecessor company had before the Internet reached the degree of commercialism it now has; originally they were merely providing database services for tracking sites in a mostly academic, government, and military computer network. Starting around 1995, the Internet really took off commercially as the general public caught on to it. In September, 1995, Network Solutions (which was then operating its domain registrations under the name "InterNIC", Internet Network Information Center) convinced the government to modify their contract to allow them to charge money for domain registration (which was previously free of charge). From that point on, the ever-escalating number of domain registrations became a major cash cow for them.
The old-line purist camp, in which I usually place myself, still has some grudges against Network Solutions in conjunction with this commercialization. Before they started charging money and making profits on domain registrations, InterNIC actually attempted to ensure proper registration and use of domain names in accordance with the way the naming system was intended to be used by the "founding fathers" of the Internet. In other words, they made sure that only commercial entities used .com names, only noncommercial entities used .org names, only network infrastructure providers used .net names, etc. Also, they rarely allowed any organization to register more than one domain name, because the purposes of additional names could be accomplished more logically and efficiently through subdomains in the hierarchical naming structure: ABC's news division could be news.abc.com instead of needing to register a separate domain abcnews.com.
If these rules had been maintained, we wouldn't have many of the problems the domain name system now has, such as cybersquatters, domain speculators, corporations squelching criticism by pre-emptively registering all the derogatory combinations of their name as domains, and general chaos where nonprofit websites are as likely to be found at .com addresses as in the proper .org. These days, Network Solutions only attempts to enforce correct usage in the .edu domain, reserved for 4-year degree-granting educational institutions. (There, the rules are probably too strict; I myself wouldn't mind it too much if they let community colleges and even high schools register .edu domains, since as it now stands, many of those people are inappropriately registering .com domains instead. .edu, denoting "educational", would make more sense.)
But even non-purists have had many reasons to hate Network Solutions over the years. While they were a monopoly, they acted like one, making any dealings with them be similar to trying to renew your driver's license. Their web site was confusingly organized and often full of out-of-date information, the method of submitting registrations and changes clumsy and inefficient (instead of being done entirely on the web, it required filling out a web form which generated a template by e-mail, which you had to e-mail back to them), and there were lots of unpredictable delays. Sometimes their e-mail system was nonfunctional and it took days for a response to get back that should have only taken minutes. Trying to get any help from them by e-mail, fax, or telephone was an exercise in frustration, where it took endless amounts of time to reach a real human being, and when you finally did, they often proved to be thoroughly clueless about your problem.
The real hassles, though, came whenever you wanted to do anything even slightly more complicated than registering a new domain or a routine change of name servers on an old one. Changing the ownership of a domain, for instance, required jumping through really complicated hoops, under which the domain was actually deleted and then re-registered -- in a few cases, Network Solutions has actually screwed up this process and let a third party wind up registering the domain during the "deletion" period. Even when the transfer worked correctly, it could take weeks or months to complete.
Trying to correct a typo in your company name in the "registrant" field, or get your domain records updated to reflect a change in company name, was almost as difficult, as you had to convince Network Solutions that you weren't really transferring ownership of the domain (and hence should pay a new registration fee). This required a complex procedure including sending in a notarized form, and also could take weeks or months.
And if your domains were registered under an outdated e-mail address that no longer worked, or were registered using a contact person who's a former employee no longer affiliated with you, then lots of luck gaining control of your domain. This required sending in a request on paper using your letterhead, then waiting weeks or months for them to get around to investigating it.
But you don't have to use Network Solutions any more. They're not a monopoly now, and there is plenty of competition. This competition doesn't seem to have improved Network Solutions very much; rather than make a serious attempt to improve their service, they have reacted by adding lots of silly marketing junk to entice people into taking advantage of various services of theirs, many of them useless or overpriced. They now use their registrants' list as a spam list to hype their offers, while being indignant that outside spammers have sometimes used their public "WHOIS" database for this purpose.
Routine domain registrations and changes with Network Solutions work reasonably well, though you still have the extra step of e-mailing a template back to them for domain changes (new registrations are now done entirely on the Web). Anything more complex, though, can still be a pain.
Furthermore, their $35/year price is the most expensive registration; other places are $15/year or sometimes even less. And other registrars offer Web-based, password-protected sites to let you make changes to your domain records, even including changes of ownership, with no hassle whatsoever.
I would suggest avoiding Network Solutions for any domain registrations you might be doing, and if you already have domains with Network Solutions, I would suggest transferring them to another registrar. This process is fairly simple; many other registrars will honor the remaining time period left in your Network Solutions registration; and this move will save you money from then on as well as making future modifications much easier. (I do my own domains through my hosting provider, 5bucksamonth.com. They charge $15/year for domain registrations.)
I have some more to say about domain names at these sites:
http://www.dantobias.com/webtips/domains.html
http://www.dantobias.com/politics/cyber/domain.html
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
dtobias
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Member: Daniel Tobias
Location: Boca Raton, FL
Reviews written: 167
Trusted by: 95 members
About Me:
A programmer and Internet developer who's been a "computer geek" for over 20 years now.
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