Under fire for the monopoly it holds on registering the Internet's most valuable domain names, Network Solutions is facing its second antitrust lawsuit.
Filed as a class action on behalf of domain name registrants, the complaint names both Network Solutions (also known as NSI) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), the federal agency that contracts NSI to register domain names ending in ".com," ".net," ".edu" and ".org."
The suit resembles a separate court challenge leveled against NSI in March. In that suit, alternative registrar PG Media claimed NSI is running an illegal monopoly by blocking competitors from the domain name registration market. Attorneys for PG Media amended their complaint last month to include the NSF as well.
Thursday's suit is filed on behalf of six domain name registrants, including MyHouse Communications and Delta Micro Systems in Maryland and Texas-based Sartori Associates. It is filed as a class action, meaning that if the judge hearing the case approves, other domain name registrants also could join the action.