Every time you search for a domain on Network Solutions, they register it themselves.

Re:Every time you search for a domain on Network Solutions, ... by nickb on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @01:41AM (#96259)

Here, do some automated searching. Save as ns.rb and run as "ruby ns.rb" or do a +x...

----- cut here -----

   #!/usr/bin/env ruby -w
   require 'rubygems'
   require 'mechanize'
   require 'digest/md5'

   search_form = WWW::Mechanize.new.get("http://www.networksolutions.com/").forms.first
   search_field = search_form.fields.name("domainNames").first

   1.upto 50 do |i|
       puts search_field.value = "#{Digest::MD5.hexdigest("#{rand(9999999999)}")}.com"
       search_form.submit
   end

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Re:Every time you search for a domain on Network Solutions, ... by ericb on Thursday January 10, 2008 @01:01AM (#96686)

I wonder if continually searching trademark-based names and notifying over-aggressive corporate trademark lawyers might be a better strategy? Maybe your script should be "mcdonaldsrestaurant#{i}.com"

There was a thread on reddit where people had gotten NS to register some names that might be awkward to explain to any outsiders (gross, non-pc stuff, etc). If you have a non-pc sense of humor, you might enjoy:

http://reddit.com/info/64xuc/comments/

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Re:Every time you search for a domain on Network Solutions, ... by timr on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @02:07AM (#96267)

This won't do anything but load their server slightly. They're using the 5-day cancellation rule, so they don't actually pay for the domains that they reserve.

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Re:Every time you search for a domain on Network Solutions, ... by mynameishere on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @09:43AM (#96342)

Could be wrong here, but the point is to draw enough attention so that the refund policy is changed.

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Re:Every time you search for a domain on Network Solutions, ... by timr on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @01:00PM (#96409)

Yeah, but why would this help? Unless you can hurt their bottom line, you're unlikely to change their behavior.

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Re:Every time you search for a domain on Network Solutions, ... by bkbleikamp on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @06:44PM (#96597)

If a few thousand people run this server a day or two before Q1 ends they'll have to explain to the press why they missed earnings projections by so much

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Re:Every time you search for a domain on Network Solutions, ... by daniel-cussen on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @05:21PM (#96552)

If the press pays attention to this, it could make them lose potential clients.

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