In case you haven't read about it already, recently Network Solutions has started "front-running" domain names - which means that if you are looking for a domain name and happen to use NetSol's site to do the searching, they will register and hold the name so that you can only register it through their company.

As you probably know, Network Solutions is the domain name registration company that for years had a monopoly on domain registrations, and even yet today, controls the main servers that populate the domain name system, has started to preregister domain names as a "service" to client. Typically, they charge 5 to 10 times more than their competitors to register a domain name.

Officially, Network Solutions denies they are front running; as a matter of fact, they're calling this a "customer service feature" to protect their clients from front running:

Although Network Solutions does temporarily register a site a customer searched for, spokeswoman Susan Wade denied there’s anything nefarious afoot. “Network Solutions is not front-running,” she said. Network Solutions holds the domain for up to four days, during which time a customer can register it only from Network Solutions and after which it again becomes generally available if unregistered, Wade said. But that feature, she said, is a “pre-emptive” measure to protect customers–from front-runners. That’s because front-runners can tell when a customer has searched for a domain at Network Solutions, for example because Network Solutions then must check availability at other sites when a customer searches, Wade said.

Our here in the real world, we all know it is a simple and very transparent ploy to rope potential customers into registering domain names at an inflated rate.

Because, if you're looking for a domain, find one you like at Network Solutions' search page, you're going to want immediately register it to make sure you get it. Really good domain names are as scarce and as valuable as Manhatten real estate.

Shame on Network Solutions!