Network Solutions quietly launched a program that registers searched-for domain names to itself. For a period of four days after the initial domain search is conducted, the name can be purchased only from Network Solutions.

The idea, according to Network Solutions CEO Champ Mitchell is to cut down on scams by preventing scammers from registering the domain names for which legitimate users are searching.

But many people in the business of domain names blasted the policy as either locking in users to Network Solutions' registration services -- which are priced higher than many competing registrars -- or exposing their searches to scammers, who could sweep up the domains as soon as they're released.

Four-Day Grace Period

In a scheme called "domain tasting," scammers take advantage of the four-day grace period mandated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) by registering large numbers of domains and then releasing the ones that don't generate traffic.

Reporter Andrew Allemann, writing on Domain Name Wire, accused Network Solutions of abusing this grace period. "The grace period was designed to refund domains that customers didn't mean to register (e.g. they typed it wrong)," he said. "Yes, many companies are abusing this grace period, but now Network Solutions has thrown its hat in the ring."

Jay Westerdal of DomainTools.com, writing on his company blog, said it is "deplorable" that Network Solution would announce potential domain names to the entire world.

"Network Solutions has now exposed those domains to domain tasters that will snipe those domain up milliseconds after Network Solutions deletes them," Westerdal wrote. "These domains are now easy fodder for scammers and it is mind-blowing that Network Solutions would expose their customers' queries to the world in this manner."

Is Policy 'Front Running'?

Many are saying that Network Solutions is "front running" -- a scheme used by domain-name scammers to register domain names only to sell them later for higher prices than the initial registration fees. A Network Solutions spokesperson denied that the practice is front running because the company is not trying to profit from the resale of names and it doesn't keep the names after the grace period.

That argument doesn't hold much water with Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT. "It looks to me like Network Solutions is getting a head start on winning 2008's Facebook-Beacon Memorial Award for Clueless Corporate Behavior," he joked in an e-mail.

"The company's policy could result in increased interest and scrutiny of domain name registrars," King said. "If the attention becomes too keen or sanctions look possible, I expect Network Solutions to backtrack fast enough to cause whiplash."

A further criticism being voiced is that Network Solutions failed to tell users what it was doing. On Wednesday, Mitchell said the company would post a notification of the policy on the site, but a domain name search on the site Friday produced no such notice.

"Someone should be fired over the implementation," Allemann wrote.