I agree with the title of this post that it is a "Bad-Analogy."

Isn't that exactly what happens when you go into a car dealership and ask to buy one of their cars? You have to buy that car on their lot from them.

There are four big differences. 1. domains are one of a kind, not relatively amorphous used cars. 2. car dealers are in the business of buying and reselling used cars, NSI is not in the business of being a registrant, 3. car dealers do not buy the only car of its kind and then mark it up 4x or more over the price which a person could have purchased and 4. NSI's use of their web site availability search tools to 'reserve' domains without notice to the consumer may constitute fraud.

In this instance with NSI, there is only one car in the world of its kind. If the car dealer would to use its web site to lure visitors to search for that one of a kind car, then buy it and mark it up a 4x times in price then they very well might be liable for consumer fraud. Just like the NSI case, it would depend on what notice was provided on their web site for consumers using their search tool. I posted on the NSI issue and their potential liability when it first went down here and here.

I just did a check: I went to NetworkSolutions.com and pretended I was searching for a domain to register. I typed in "ffffgggg.com" and, yes, the domain was available. I then went to GoDaddy.com and typed in the same domain--it was unavailable and held by Network Solutions.

What Bret Fausett doesn't get is that Network Solutions doesn't own that domain--they simply are allowed, through ICANN, to "sell" it to people who want to register it. They have no prior rights to that domain.

Network Solution's only service is to offer a way for people to register domains. Those domains are virtual real estate that, prior to their registration, are owned by no one. Essentially, Network Solutions has taken ownership of the domain by "reserving" it--if this is not fraud, is at least robbery.

What on earth does your comment have to do with what I wrote? You went through all the effort to register as a user, but you didn't even read what I wrote? Incredible.

Dear Bret Fausett--

Of course I read what you wrote--several times If you read what I wrote, you'd see that your endorsement of the original analogy is inaccurate. Do car dealerships own the cars they are selling? Of course they do, or at least the company that makes those cars do. Does Network Solutions "own" the domains that we are attempting to register? No.