While GoDaddy and Register.com have grown huge customer bases by offering cheap domain names, Network Solutions has steadfastly held to their more expensive pricing structure. Now they found a way to keep you from buying from the cheaper guys, and a host of technology experts are crying “Foul.”

Whenever you go to Network Solutions to search for domain names–to see if the name you want is available–the company now registers that name for themselves, immediately. Then, let’s say you decide later to buy the domain you searched, only from one of the cheaper places. You go there and search the name, only to be told that Network Solutions now owns it. Nice. We tested this, by the way, with several ridiculous domains we’d never want to own anyway….we typed them in the search box at Network Solutions, and were told the domains were available. Then when we went to GoDaddy to buy them, we were told Network Solutions owned them.

Jerks.

Sure, Network Solutions will still let you buy it…for the premium price…and only from them.

It all hinges on a little protection clause that was built in to protect the big domain registrar companies from fraudulent purchases. There is a five-day window before the registrar company has to pay for registered domain names. That allows them to make sure you’re not using a stolen credit card before getting burned on the charges.

But now Network Solutions wants to use that five-day waiting period to beat down the average user, and hold your preferred domain name hostage. The company is, of course, claiming that they are looking out for you:

To thwart the efforts of these sneaky individuals, Network Solutions reserves unregistered domains for up to four days from the date they are searched on our Web site. This customer protection feature provides our customers the opportunity to register names at a later date without fear that the name will be registered by the “Front Runners.” If the domain you searched is available and one that you really want, we suggest that you register it immediately to ensure that you will not lose the name.

They’re saying that there are sneaky jerks out there who want to snatch up your domain before you have a chance, and that they are only registering your searched domain themselves to protect you from these sneaky jerks. It’s the old “I’m stealing from you to keep someone else from stealing from you” argument that, to my knowledge, has never been proven logical. By registering names as soon as they are searched, Network Solutions is engaging in the very act they say they’re protecting you against. Sheesh. It’s circular logic on acid!

So to sum up, Network Solutions will steal your domain in the name of protecting you, and then will offer to sell it to you at a rate three times what you’d pay elsewhere. Make no mistake: there are definitely some sneaky jerks out there waiting to steal your domain name, and you can call them Network Solutions. Shady stuff. If you want to search for available domain names, go to a reputable registrar, or just give us a call and we’ll search it for you.