Via Network World
A Los Angeles firm this afternoon has announced a class action against Network Solutions and ICANN over the former’s practice of locking up domain names as soon as they are searched for on its site, which means the party searching can buy the name only from Network Solutions.
The practice has been highly controversial and now lawyers at Kabateck Brown Kellner are tossing around words such as “defraud” and “scheme.” They’re also suing ICANN for failing to stop what is known in the industry as “front running.”
Network Solutions has forced millions of people to buy Internet domain names from them instead of cheaper competitors through a scheme that’s netted the firm millions of dollars, a federal class action lawsuit filed today by Kabateck Brown Kellner, LLP states. ICANN, whose policies facilitate the scheme, is also named in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of California.
“Imagine if you asked a car dealer if they had a black convertible and were then forced to buy the car from them. Would you get a good deal? Each time someone asks Network Solutions about a domain name, the firm creates a monopoly for itself, forcing consumers to pay the price they demand,” said Brian Kabateck, lead counsel in the class action and Kabateck Brown Kellner’s Managing Partner.