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VeriSign Dodges Fraud Messes
Jun. 23, 2003
Al-Jazeera's experience is hardly unique. Domain hijacking has been rampant for years, as companies large and small have fallen prey to a simple scam. GTE, the venerable phone company that's now part of Verizon, had its domain hijacked in 2000. But giants like GTE have the muscle to reclaim their names without much fuss. Small companies and individuals have found that they may never get their domains back. And VeriSign, based in Mountain View, California, claims it bears no responsibility.
Leslie Harpold has been fighting for a year to reclaim her stolen hoopla.com domain, but has faced a registrar that claims neutrality in the encounter.
Likewise, Donald Wasylyna says he found his domain, Gamesnet.net, stolen this February after a handful of his contributors created a company with the same name, then asked VeriSign to reset the password on the registration account. Wasylyna had gone to extremes to prevent such a catastrophe -- including setting up a supposedly secure authentication process with VeriSign to enact any changes. Gamesnet's current management denies Wasylyna's claims and says the case is without merit.
Details at: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59327,00.html
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