Network Solutions which stuffed .XYZ domain names into customers account for free, is at it again this time with the new gTLD .Design.
Customers of Network Solutions are receiving notices that they are being given a free .Design domain, matching a domain name owned by the customer in a Network Solutions account, under the premise of “Brand Protection” using the “C” word many times; yes Cybersquatting”‘ “Cybersquatters”
As in the case of .XYZ domains that were pushed into customer’s accounts, the .Design domains will not auto renew.
However in my opinion, the premise of giving away the free domain as “Brand Protection” is more problematic than the .XYZ promotion which was worded as a bonus or thank you gift to loyal customers and throwing around the “C” words, is even more problematic.
Consider that the email that a reader forwarded to me was for a free three letter .Design domain based off his ownership of the matching three letter .Com domain; certainly nothing to do with Cybersquatting or Cybersquatters. In essence by throwing around the “C” words Netsol is insulting some of their own customers.
You can see how the .XYZ free domain name email was worded here.
.Design is owned by the new gTLD registry Top Level Design which is led by one of the founders of SnapNames.com Ray King which also owns .wiki.
According to ntldstats.com, .Design has 30,074 domains registered and of those only 344 are at Network Solutions, we will keep our eye on this one to see how many free .design domain names wind up being giving away.
This is how the email from NetworkSolutions.com giving away the free .Design email reads:
“”At Network Solutions we take brand protection seriously.
We’re happy to have you as one of our most valued customers and as your registrar we want to make sure you protect your brand equity and reputation online.
As you already know, a business’s most valuable asset is its good name, its brand and reputation.
Cybersquatting (also known as domain squatting) is registering, trafficking in, or using an Internet domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. Anyone can register a domain name using another’s trademarked name.
Unfortunately, the cost of recovering that name from a Cybersquatter can be thousands of dollars; not to mention the financial loss resulting from brand and reputational damage. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in cybersquatting and this has left companies with significant brand, reputational and financial damage.
Because domain names can be very valuable, Cybersquatters continuously find new and innovative ways to exploit individuals or companies.
In order to help protect your brand, we created a Brand Protection program to protect our most valued customers by awarding you with complimentary access to a 1-year registration on a .DESIGN domain.
To go along with your new domain, you’ll also receive a year of Website Forwarding and Private Registration for your .ONLINE domain – At no charge to you*
Your Complimentary Domain
XXXXXXXXXX.DESIGN (pending availability)
If you choose not to use this domain, no action is needed and you will not be charged any fees in the future. Should you decide to keep the domain after your complimentary first year, simply renew it like any other domain in your account.
If you choose to not participate in this program, simply click on the following link by March 15, 2016.
http://marketing.networksolutions.com/info-opt-out/
Our Brand Protection program is one of the most reliable and effective ways to protect your brand from being hijacked or exploited.
If you have any questions about this program please call our Brand Protect team at 1-888-642-0209.
Your brand and reputation online remains our top priority. The Brand Protection program represents another significant step forward toward protecting your business.
Network Solutions Customer Support
www.networksolutions.com””
Oh the HORROR! This more terrifying than that time Amazon gave me free access to Amazon Prime for a month or that time the Guggenheim Museum allowed the public in for free for a few days! It’s not quite as egregious as that time Cheesecake Factory brought me free cheesecake on my birthday without asking me though. OH THE HUMANITY!
All joking aside though, — if these are not automatically renewing, why is anyone bothered by this?
They most likely will auto-renew as their system seems to turn auto-renew on itself. They don’t know why and their engineers have yet to figure it out. Everything this company does needs to be reviewed as suspect.
So if they own a .com, and they are giving them a worthless .design name, what does this mean:
“To go along with your new domain, you’ll also receive a year of Website Forwarding and Private Registration for your .ONLINE domain – At no charge to you*”
.online? where did that come from?
Jake
People went insane when Netsol gave away free and unasked for .XYZ domains, the domain industry went nuts.
The wording of this email in my opinion is misleading, brand protection from one gTLD out of 900?
Paraphrase:
“People [were upset] when Netsol gave away free and unasked for .XYZ domains; the domain industry [was justifiably indignant].”
Insanity is a strong word. To date, frustration with domain industry malfeasance is not recognized by the DSM V as a clinically diagnosable illness.
“Anyone can register a domain using another’s trademarked name……(which is why brand protection wasn’t limited to just trademark holders during this promotion)”.
Jake,
Offering people a choice to opt into an offer is far different to offering people a choice to opt out of an offer.
When it comes to renewal, people may renew based on the belief they made a choice to buy the domain in the first place when they may have simply seen the offer, not read it correctly and decided they were not interested in a .design only to have it stuffed in.
Once in, renewal is far more likely than acquisition in the first place.
And what happens when the next free stuffing occurs…
In some countries, such offers are potentially illegal
In the .XYZ scandal, I saw 2 distinct issues:
(1) Network Solutions stuffing domains into customers’ accounts without real permission, requiring an opt-out rather than an opt-in.
(2) Statements by the .XYZ CEO that implied those robo-registrations were evidence of meaningful adoption and market demand.
When I spoke with Daniel Negari at NamesCon, he told me that Network Solutions frequently indulges in such deals. Really, I don’t think that excuses .XYZ’s participation earlier; but it reflects badly on NetSol. As I said to Negari, he’s welcome to leak details of similar registrar stuffing cases; and I’ll criticize those registries / registrars for the same reason – i.e. issue (1) above.
The second issue doesn’t apply in this case. I doubt Ray King and Top Level Design will pretend these .DESIGN registrations were voluntary.
As Michael Berkens points out, NetSol has run afoul of a third issue this time:
(3) Using scare tactics about “cybersquatting”, which will likely be misunderstood by many customers as applying to domain investors.
That’s not cool.
When .XYZ was doing this all complained and there was much discussions and debates happening. Now its .DESIGN. The good thing to companies is that their TLD would become quite famous and would create an after market like .XYZ, but that position was acquired by XYZ after they made the name cheap and free through all channels , The cheapest reg fees I found for .design is 6.88$, so I don’t think, other than increasing the numbers of registered domains, they would not be able to do well with the Network solutions strategy, if they have decided to go through only NS, if they did the same way as XYZ did then there would be a chance.
Reputable companies may stuff items, or offer free samples of offerings, that consumers will most likely want. An aftershave sample to go along with the same brand shaving lotion. Book samples to accompany books by the same author.
But if I hand register YellowFinCharters.com, keep
YellowFinCharters.xyz or YellowFinCharters.design out of my freaking cart. or ________.sucks. or ______.whatever out
We understand your strategy: there’s a quid pro quid with the Registrar & Registry and it’s a tactic to lift the numbers and get the extension out there in the wild — but this should be allowed ONLY if the buyer opts in — inflating reg numbers by stuffing the basket must be a violation of internet commerce. If not, it’s completely unethical.
They did the same with .info which affected domains where was working at the time. I just got advised to check auto renewal was disabled. If they got a few renewed perhaps they got an adequate ROI .I would be curious to see some figures though