Dangers of WhoIs queries and domain availability checks
Strange title don't you think, But it's true, There is no safe way to whois a domain you are interested in buying without the risk of loosing the chance to register that vacant domain.
I have been in the internet business for a long time, A client calls us up and says register the domain name "example.com" for me, so we check availability and the Domain name is not available, Somehow it has been sitting there since 1996 and on the day they want it, it's gone, doesn't make much sense does it, and the statistical probability of something being not right grows to enormous numbers if this happens twice and even larger numbers if it happens thrice (remember statistics 101, Multiplication not addition).
So what is really happening is this, Our client searches for availability on a website like the great and mighty Network Solutions (The once monopoly over domain name registration), Network solutions registers that domain for a few days and sees if it (1) gets traffic (2) the user wants to register it, If the user comes trying to register the Domain name, they ask for a premium since it is there domain name, if he does not attempt to register it and it does generate traffic they keep it to make money out of advertising, if it does not generate traffic, they return it to the registry at no cost to them, How nice, but this is not the only reason i never liked NetSol, Network Solutions got on my nerves much before when they used to show ads when a user visits a non existing domain, but that was long ago.
The process of registering a domain when a user does a whois lookup or availability lookup on there website is called "Domain Name Front Running".
The clearest definition of Domain Name Front running is, When a party who has some form of insider information regarding an internet user's interest in a domain name preemptively registers the name
So, what has the ICANN been doing about this i hear you ask ?
2007
The short answer is too little too late, The longer answer is ICANN's (Security and stability advisory Committee SSAC) advised in 2007 against the practice, The practice of you doing who is searches or availability lookups at a website YOU do not trust, not against the practice NETSOL are doing !
The evidence is not conclusive is what they said, Well, the basics of statistics say they are, at least i think i have enough evidence that puts the probability of error way below one in a billion, When i talk about more than ten domain names, then divide the 24 hours the client called me in over the number of hours since 1996 and then multiply the probability number of incidents times, one in 1 billion is very little room for error, Even worse, names that are not phonetically nice abbreviations that are not related to current events are very unlikely to be sitting since 1996 and then get registered within 24 hours of the whois search, But oh well, Take that good advice from the SSAC because you have been doing a wrong thing, and they are trying to protect you from yourself not from someone who is spying on you.
But it is not all NetSol, You see, if you are not using HTTPS (This is why you need to search on a secure page at EasyWebDNS), Your ISP could also know about your intention, and in one incident, i have noticed that the ISP of my client is probably the registrar of the domain, simply because the last name of the registrant is a native of the area but i may be wrong.
SSAC asks victims to send the WhoIs query and other relevant data like the exact time to SSAC to investigate, i recommend not WhoIsing before getting your domain name in the first place, and checking for it's availability on a trustworthy website
2008
On 8 January 2008, Network Solutions started registering any domain name that you search for but did not buy within a certain time frame, if the domain didn't work for them, they returned it before it cost them any money (Domain Tasting), The WhoIs information on such domains read clearly (This domain is available at NetworkSolutions.com).
Now, the ICANN who accredits this giant registrar had to do something, After all the accreditation agreement prohibits monitoring searches, But wait, Vice president of NetSol Jonathan Nevett had something to say, Claiming that they are simply reserving the domain for the searching customer, and claiming that if that customer comes back again there website will tell him the domain is vacant (many have had experience against this).
Even if that were true (And everyone does say it is not from there experience), they are forcing you to buy it from them at a much higher vacant domain price ($34.99 compared to the $7.49 at easywebdns.com for example), And if you don't buy it within 5 days, they are able able to measure traffic on that domain (Tasting) and making you pay whatever they think the domain is worth, and making it available to anyone else willing to pay as well.
The problem (Or opportunity to NETSOL) has to do with Verisign (The guys responsible for .COM and .NET), they allow you to refund the domain name within less than 5 days at no cost.
So in conclusion, and in my opinion, One can't rely on the ICANN to enforce or regulate Domain Name Games, but rather be careful on not indirectly disclosing the intentions to people with previous bad practices.
So, let us assume the damage is done, I have WhoIs a domain i am thinking of buying or even searched for it at NetSol, What do i do ?
Buy it from EasyWebDNS, you can return it within 4 days, keep it for 4 days until you know for sure if you want the domain or not, in other words, beat them to it.
Terms
Domain Tasting: The practice of Registering a domain name and measuring the traffic and interest in a domain, And only keeping the domain if it will generate revenue greater than the cost of registering it for 1 year.
Domain Kiting: Returning the domain name to the registry then instantly reserving it again to extend the period of the risk free domain ownership.
Domain Front Running: When a party who has some form of insider information regarding an internet user's interest in a domain name preemptively registers the name.
