Deb's got nothing! Netsol Sells Databases ~~~~~~

[Tatu]

Deb's post was only mildly blood curdling compared to this one. Deb's got nothing! :)

I've seen this article posted on at least 2 forums already, so I might as well have it posted here.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/531732.asp

Tatu

Edit: Just keeping the spirit of healthy competition alive. ;)[nbsp]
[This message has been edited by Tatu (edited 02-17-01@11:58 am)]

[Jason]

Ah, this is nothing. NetSol's been selling this information for years (where do you think Interland, Valueweb, etc. get their mailing lists for all the mail they send out?) It's just that NetSol hasn't officially acknowledged doing so until now (i.e. it's something they've never advertised, but if you called them up and made a good enough offer you could get just about anything from them).

I think Deb's post was much much scarier. Think about it - if Referee magazine could claim (and win) that eReferee.com was infringing on their trademark, then someone like Network Solutions could claim that anyone using the word "Solutions" in their business name or web address is infringing. Or worse, Qwest could claim that anyone using "quest" was infringing because there was a real possibility that people might confuse the two based on pronunciation alone. There goes FutureQuest!

Or think about it - the New York Times decides they have the exclusive right to use the word "Times" in their name, and sue the Los Angeles Times, the London Times, and all the other newspapers and web sites that use "Times" in their name. And you know what - according to the eReferee decision, they would stand a good chance of winning.

Frankly, Deb's post scares me a lot more than NetSol selling some information to marketers.

Jason

[Tatu]

I just read what NetSol is saying to market this information courtesy of geekvillage:
Network Solutions is anything but shy when it comes to promoting the value of the data that most domain holders have been required to provide NSI over the years. Advertising text apparently placed by NSI in publications
devoted to direct marketing has been very enthusiastic:

"On your mark, get set, go! The VeriSign/Network Solutions domain
registration database is available for the first time ever.
Approximately 6 million unique customers, sliced and diced for you
to target prospects ..."

"... You can target based on their status in the dot com
lifecycle: Is their web site live, is it secure or e-commerce
enabled? We'll even tell you about their host switching behavior ..."
Tatu

[zmax]

I thought it was illegal or against the rules for anyone to use whois domain name info to solicit business or send ad mails etc etc. . .. ???

David

[Deb]

You'd be amazed what you get for a mere $10 grand

Deb
[nbsp]- Yep...for only $10,000 you get the whole enchilada!