An appeals court has upheld a 1998 ruling that ruled that Network Solutions Inc is permitted to charge a fee for domain name registration and that its monopoly position in the market place is not illegal. Judge Thomas Hogan handed down that decision in response to a class action suit brought against NSI and the National Science Foundation (NSF) in April 1998 and last week it was upheld by a three-judge panel at the US Court of Appeals in Washington DC. NSI described itself Friday as very pleased.
The suit was a wide-ranging one brought by DC lawyer William Bode on behalf of two individuals, William Thomas and Thomas Howell, and four companies. It also alleged that the fund created by siphoning off 30% of the registration fee was an illegal tax and that the domain name registration process is a government service. Bode has the option of seeking a motion to reconsider, or he can go to the Supreme Court. He did not return our calls. Circuit Judge Randolph’s panel dismissed the antitrust claims because the plaintiff’s were not competitors of NSI and therefore lacked the status to even bring the allegations against the Herndon, Virginia company.
