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