] Network Solutions, a full-service provider of domain
] names, Web sites, and e-mail services, today announced
] that it is now accepting pre-orders for its new Next
] Registration Rights service. Next Registration Rights is
] a unique new service that automatically obtains the
] registration for a currently registered .com or .net
] domain name if the current domain name holder fails to
] renew, or affirmatively deletes, the domain name during
] the subscription period. Network Solutions is the first
] retail registrar to accept advanced orders for the
] service that is scheduled to "go live" in October 2003.

What is the story with this one? It looks as if VeriSign is trying to milk its monopoly over .com/.net in every way it can possibly think of.

Even though VeriSign pretty much has complete control of com/net, their growth is pretty flat, hence their stock is performing like shit. They are losing more margin on domain hosting/sales, because more and more people are registering with or switching to other registrars.

] Once the new Network Solutions service goes live, only
] one individual or organization can receive a Next
] Registration Rights subscription for a currently
] registered domain name. In the past, there was no
] control over how many people backordered a domain
] and therefore no one person could be assured that
] they would be able to register the domain when it
] became available.

In short, for $39 a year, you can have VeriSign sit on top of the records for .net/.com, and if the holding registrar gives up the domain you are interested in, they snag it. Sounds simple, but its not possible to compete with Network Solutions here, because they control .net/.com the master records.

] Another benefit of Next Registration
] Rights is that it can serve as an insurance policy for
] current domain name holders by protecting against
] losing a domain name registration that is allowed to
] inadvertently expire.

... or another way to extort some bucks out of people.