A $100 million federal antitrust lawsuit was filed against the Site Finder offering from VeriSign. The company, which directs much of the Internet’s traffic because it controls directories for the ".com" and ".net" domain names, redirected traffic when someone types in a mistaken Web site address.
Internet users were directed to Site Finder, which displayed possible alternative sites, rather than receiving a generic error message. VeriSign received a portion of revenues from the site.
Crtics say the service disrupts rival services and allows VeriSign to profit from their near monopoly over ".com" and ".net" domain names.
Later, VeriSign said it would temporarily shut down the service after the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) president threatened legal action against the company if they didn't take the service down. However, some say that VeriSign has the technical tools it needs to get around ICANN and attempt to 'take over the Internet directly.'
Wired September 19, 2003 & October 3, 2003
Dana Blankenhorn
Last month I posted my comments on the evil VeriSign. Well, fortunately the private sector has come forward and the company is now being sued for $100 million for breaking the Internet. You reap what you sow.
ICANN, the official Internet regulatory agency, finally woke up and issued an advisory asking VeriSign to voluntarily suspend their new service.
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