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Monday, February 25, 2008



Warning about Network Solutions

Wanna see a real time example of theft? Do this:

Go to http://GoDaddy.com

Search for a made-up domain name, something very unlikely to already be registered. If your first choice is already taken, try again. Repeat until you find one that is available, but do not actually register it. Then close the site.

Now go to http://NetworkSolutions.com and search for the same domain name. It should say that it is available.

Now go back to http://godaddy.com and search for the same domain name again. As you will see, the domain name is no longer available even though you have not registered it.

What happened? Network Solutions registered your domain name. If you want to buy it now, you will have to buy it from Network Solutions for $34.99, much higher than the normal price of $9.

Network Solutions claims this is a protection for you against a practice called "frontrunning", which is registering a domain name that someone just searched for so that you can re-sell it to them at a higher price. Funny the way Network Solutions is doing exactly the same thing they claim they are protecting you from.

Look, we have dealt with Network Solutions on many occasions in the past, and our opinion has always been the same - that it is a terrible company to do business with. They are difficult to work with and they over-charge for their services. But as far as we're concerned, this domain name issue goes beyond poor service. In our opinion, it is theft.

So...don't do business with Network Solutions. You can get exactly the same services at a lower price from GoDaddy or any of dozens of other companies.

If you need help choosing a registrar and getting your online business off the ground, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net. We're here to help.

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posted by Jerry Work / Chris Work @ 8:01 AM   0 comments

Friday, March 16, 2007



Microsoft Puts an End to Cybersquatting

is registering a domain name that incorporates the brand name of an existing company in order to capitalize on traffic that might result from owning the domain, or to sell it back to the company that actually owns the domain name. It used to be a way for a little guy to make a quick buck off a big corporation with bucks to spare. But The practice of "cybersquatting" may be coming to an end, thanks to Microsoft. Cybersquattingthose days may be over.

According to a recent article in FT.com, a British financial web site, Microsoft has begun aggressively suing companies that have registered domain names that infringe on its intellectual property. For example, it settled a lawsuit with a company in the UK called Dyslexic Domains for $46,000, which supposedly represents all of the profit the company had earned by using the domain names.

How does this affect you? Simple. Don't do it! You don't want to mess with a company like Microsoft. They have way more lawyers than you do. If you are in the business of profiting from domain traffic (such as by registering domain names that contain popular keywords), avoid the use of registered trademarks or brand names.

For you own domain name, it is fine to include keywords. In fact, you might want to register a domain with some keywords (www.keyword-keyword-keyword.com), and then also register a domain that represents your company name. Then you can do a permanent redirect from the company name-based domain to the keyword-based domain. This way, you will have a keyword-loaded domain, which can be extremely useful for SEO purposes, and a domain name that sounds better and is better for branding that you can use in other media. But avoid using the brand name of another, or you'll be asking for trouble.

For help registering a domain name for your business, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net.

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posted by Jerry Work / Chris Work @ 7:43 AM   0 comments