Network Solutions' "A Sucker Born Every Minute" Domain Service

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 21:12:37 -0800 (PST)
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Subject: Network Solutions' "A Sucker Born Every Minute" Domain Service
To: dave () farber net


Dave,

When I first heard about this my initial reaction was that it must be a
joke.  Sadly, it is not.  It appears we not only have to worry about
spammers, scammers, and other illicit fraudsters on the Net, but now the
vested, 800-pound gorilla of domain name registrations, Network Solutions
(recently spun-off from our friends at VeriSign) has a new plan to try
fleece the masses -- a "100 Year" domain registration service!  I kid you
not -- they're sending out the e-mails promoting this gem as I type these
words.

Yes, boys and girls, just send Network Solutions your non-refundable renewal
fee in the amount of $999, and they'll renew your domain every year for an
Entire Century.  Never mind that domain names and the Internet are unlikely
to even exist as we know them now *long* before a hundred years have elapsed.
Forget about the fact that Network Solutions itself, as well as everyone
reading this message, are likely to have vanished from the scene well
before 2104.  For that matter, we'll be damn lucky if *civilization*
still exists by that time.

It appears that we now have a new textbook definition of greed, along with
treating the entire Internet community like a pack of imbeciles.  But then,
anyone who falls for Network Solutions' "No worries for 100 years" service
will themselves have given new meaning to the concept of a sucker.

http://www.networksolutions.com/en_US/name-it/popup-100-yr-term.jhtml

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () privacyforum org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, Fact Squad - http://www.factsquad.org
Co-Founder, URIICA - Union for Representative International Internet
                     Cooperation and Analysis - http://www.uriica.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy

-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/