Domain name slowdown hits customers
Network Solutions, the government-appointed gatekeeper for Internet addresses, is experiencing a processing backlog.
The most commonly reported problem is delay in the time it takes Network Solutions to respond to requests for new domain names. Whereas in the past it has taken 2 to 12 hours for NSI's "autoresponder" to send a confirmation that a request has been received, complaints made on Internet newsgroups and elsewhere say it now takes days to send the acknowledgements.
NSI also appears to have lost orders, others complain, causing at least one customer to miss out on his attempt to register a domain name (though he claims to have registered it first). Other complaints--some of which come from competitors of NSI--claim that the Herndon, Virginia, company's Worldnic site and its accompanying phone service are telling customers that domain names are available even when a search on the Whois directory on Internet names shows that the sites are already registered.
To prepare for competition, NSI has been feverishly striking marketing deals with Internet companies in the United States and overseas and upgrading its own technical infrastructure. Recent partners include Netscape Communications and Yahoo.
Over the past week, NSI customers say their have noticed the backlog grow.
"Our problem is about customer perception," said Richard Forman, president of Register.com, an NSI competitor that claims to be the largest domain name registry.
For others, the backlog appears to have caused NSI to lose requests for domain names.
"Two days ago, I attempted to register 'injustice.com' through the internic's web form," a post made today on the inet-access listserve complains. "Today I notice the domain has been taken. I had been watching this domain for some time, and believe I was the first to register it, but THEIR email system delayed it."
Another NSI customer said at least three requests he has emailed NSI over the past week have been returned with the words "unknown mailer error" in the subject header. A partner at domainregistry.com, a service that in part competes with NSI, the person said the return email means those requests are not being processed, allowing competitors who register the same name to get it first.