Network Solutions Advertising On Your Neglected Sub-DomainsFrom the company that brought you front running of domain registrations.... ( old news - 04:39PM Friday Apr 11 2008) tags: business · networking · domainsIt's fairly clear that we won't be happy until we've slathered every nook and cranny of the Internet in some kind of advertising. Not only have ISPs started bombarding users via DNS redirection ads, but Slashdot notes that Network Solutions has started putting ads on neglected user subdomains (or a path that does not resolve to a currently active page on your hosted site). From The Register: Earlier this week, a man named Win Betteridge told TechCrunch that Network Solutions pulled this clever little trick with his "social gaming" site, GotGame.com. Betteridge hosts GotGame with "NetSol," and somewhere along the way, he realized that his unused GotGame sub-domains resolved to ad-infested "parking" pages. "For instance, app.gotgame.com resolves to a Network Solutions page with text links, including 'Poker Tournaments' and 'Texas Holdem Games,'" he said. What, you didn't notice you agreed to this in the 59,000 word Network Solutions user agreement?
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Matt
Quitting Caffeine - Argh
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC |  NetSol, really?
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LiamJunket
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Ocean City, NJ
 ·Comcast
| Re: NetSol, really? said by Matt  :Does anyone in the know still use these greed-mongers? People have to stop doing business with them until they clean up their act. There are literally thousands of other places out there where you can host your web site.
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page | |
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Matt
Quitting Caffeine - Argh
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
| Re: NetSol, really? said by LiamJunket :said by Matt :Does anyone in the know still use these greed-mongers? People have to stop doing business with them until they clean up their act. There are literally thousands of other places out there where you can host your web site. And tons of other places where you can register your domain.
We use GoDaddy, but they are getting just as bad. I'm just waiting for the day where they start pre-checking an offer on the page and a half of crap offers you have to scroll through on every purchase you make. | |
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mrchris
We don't miss you Bush
Premium
join:2002-10-01
North Babylon, NY | Domain parking Shouldn't be allowed at all. | |
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Matt
Quitting Caffeine - Argh
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| Re: Domain parking said by mrchris :Shouldn't be allowed at all. This is an entirely different beast. They aren't parking say MyDomain.com ... they are taking a domain YOU purchased, like MrChris.com and inserting ads in SUB domains, like Greedy.MrChris.com, if it doesn't exist.
I doubt they are doing this for all domains registered with them, this is likely a hosting DNS trick. | |
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mrchris
We don't miss you Bush
Premium
join:2002-10-01
North Babylon, NY | Re: Domain parking Still, I wouldn't like that. | |
| Petermjjh
join:2005-04-03
Bloomfield Hills, MI | long wow. I just pasted the agreement into Word and it is indeed 154 pages | |
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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
·RoadRunner Cable
·DSL EXTREME
| Re: long Down in this part quote:
SCHEDULE A TO NETWORK SOLUTIONS SERVICE AGREEMENT
ADDITIONAL TERMS APPLICABLE TO REGISTRANTS OF DOMAIN NAMES
is this...
quote:
4. Network Solutions' Disclosure of Certain Information. Subject to the requirements of our privacy statement, in order for us to comply the current rules and policies for the domain name system, you hereby grant to Network Solutions the right to disclose to third parties through an interactive publicly accessible registration database the following mandatory information that you are required to provide when registering or reserving a domain name: (i) the domain name(s) registered by you; (ii) your name and postal address; (iii) the name(s), postal address(es), e-mail address(es), voice telephone number and where available the fax number(s) of the technical, administrative and billing contacts for your domain name(s); (iv) the Internet protocol numbers of the primary nameserver and secondary nameserver(s) for such domain name(s); (v) the corresponding names of those nameservers; (vi) the original creation date of the registration; and (vii) the expiration date of the registration. You consent to allow us to transmit this registration data to an ICANN approved or designated escrow agent who stores this information pursuant to ICANN requirements. You also grant to Network Solutions the right to make this information available in bulk form to third parties who agree not to use it to (a) allow, enable or otherwise support the transmission of mass unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via telephone, facsimile, or e-mail (spam) or (b) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes that apply to our systems to register domain names.
Hmm.
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Canada = Hollywood North | |
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NewLife
Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming
join:2001-07-31
Calhoun, GA
·AT&T Southeast
·Comcast
| Ah, I got a Solution Ok, for all the crybabies out there that are wanting to whine just to be a part of the "OH No the 'net has gone to the dumps", here is a clue. Make sure that your subdomains redirect properly or that there is really something there that people want to see. If not, then take the subdomain away. I have my own hosting and I have my domain through GoDaddy. I have some subdomains and I make sure that they point to folders where actual pages exist. Its a money takes all world. If you don't like that fact, then walk over to the wall, unplug whatever type of internet you are using, and timewarp back to 1985 where you didn't even have to worry about the big bad advertising. If you don't want to go to that extreme, then shut up whining.
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With hurricanes,tornados,fires out of control,mud slides,flooding,severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another,and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks,are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge | |
| | wierdo
join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·Teliax VOIP
| Re: Ah, I got a Solution Please read the article again so you might understand what is written. If you come to the same understanding a second time, please take yourself to your local adult education center and ask to be enrolled in a reading comprehension course.
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It's wierdo, not weirdo. Yes, I know that's not the 'proper' spelling of the similar english language word.  | |
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banditws6
Shrinking Time and Distance
join:2001-08-18
Naples, FL
·Comcast
| What does this have to do with making sure your subdomains redirect properly? NetSol is hijacking unassigned subdomains. Subdomains that have not been created at all. Like a wildcard. If DSLR were hosted at NetSol, you could request any random subdomain -- "thispagesucks.dslreports.com" for example -- and get the NetSol advertising page. Any subdomain that you did not create is getting redirected.
This is the kind of stuff we expected from cut-rate hosts like Geocities and that ilk back in the day. The fact that it's so well-hidden in this case is what disgusts me, as it speaks to NetSol's character and intent as a corporation.
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"I'll follow the law until it's just stupid." -Ted Nugent | |
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NewLife
Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming
join:2001-07-31
Calhoun, GA
·AT&T Southeast
·Comcast
| Re: Ah, I got a Solution But, if you read the article, the guy has a subdomain called app.gotgame.com. Type it in and if it is not pointed at an active page, then you get the ad riddled pages. Hey, I ain't saying its right, but the fact remains that if you take the time to read the user agreement you would see it. Its like installing software on a pc. If you do not read the EULA, and in it it states that after 30 days of using the software your computer will vaporize, then that becomes your fault. You should have read the EULA.
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With hurricanes,tornados,fires out of control,mud slides,flooding,severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another,and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks,are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge | |
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Rogue Wolf
Drank Your Milkshake- He Drank It Up
join:2003-08-12
Troy, NY
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Ah, I got a Solution Of course! He should have read and comprehended every last one of those FIFTY NINE THOUSAND WORDS, slathered in legalese and doublespeak, and KNOWN that the company would do this before he went and started up that website!
Why don't we go to the logical extreme? Let companies write EULAs consisting of hundreds of thousands, maybe even MILLIONS of words, so complex that we have to consult a lawyer every time we want to open up a can of soup.
This whole "should've read the EULA" argument gets thinner and thinner with every extra thousand words companies pin on them. Maybe we should just leave the website-creation bit to big corporations who have teams of lawyers to handle this sort of thing?
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I have learned to ignore such naysayers, when... quelling... them... hm?... was out of the question. | |
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jgkolt
Premium
join:2004-02-21
Lakewood, OH
clubs:
| just another reason... why i do not do business with them even though i looked when i registered my domain a while ago.
aplus.net registers it for 7 bucks or something. I was with one company before that registered it for free for me as long as i hosted my files with them.
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Learning how to invest. Sign up to get 3 free trades for you and me each. Personal Message me. Thanks | |
| amartinas
join:2007-11-19
USA
| the article is confusion what is an "unused sub domain"? is it a domain that was created, but not pointed to a webpage? or is it a subdomain that simply isn't registered in DNS at all?
either way, i dont want someone making any money from my website in any way other than directly through me with my consent.
double dipping douches. | |
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MooJohn
join:2005-12-18
Milledgeville, GA
·Windstream
| Re: the article is confusion Since the article wasn't perfectly clear, I checked to see whether it was a case of "lame delegation" or actual underhandedness by NetSol. Guess what -- it was the latter.
It's not just that the guy created an entry for app.gotgame.com and pointed it at any particular IP address.
Any subdomain you type in resolves successfully when Network Solutions is the authoritative DNS. Look up the ip for aadfwerterhwsswe.gotgame.com and it'll resolve to the same IP as his normal www. This may be different than when the story was first reported. Now you get a "page not found" message (note - not a 404 message) for any random subdomain for gotgame.
FWIW, this is still the wrong way to do DNS. There is no reason for there to be a "catch all" IP for a domain name. If it doesn't exist, tell the requester that it doesn't exist! Ever since IE started with it's "friendly error messages", users have gotten a sterilized version of what the server is trying to tell them. Why dumb down the experience?
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John M - Cranky network guy | |
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Qumahlin
Never Enough Time
Premium,MVM
join:2001-10-05
united state
| Re: the article is confusion said by MooJohn : Why dumb down the experience? Because more and more of the users on the net are less experienced. Verbose messages were fine when the majority of the people using the net had a basic understanding of how it functioned, but that of course went away as the masses took to the net and companies didn't want to deal with grandma calling to say "whats a 404 and how do I fix it?" | |
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