Network Solutions

Overview
Network Solutions, LLC (NSI) was founded in 1979. The domain name registration business is the most important division of the company. As of 2006, Network Solutions managed more than 7.6 million domain names. Their size, founding status, and longevity have made them one of the most important corporations affecting domain name pricing and policy.

Registry and registrar business
In 1992, Network Solutions was the sole bidder on a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop the domain name registration service for the Internet. In 1993, Network Solutions, Inc. was granted an exclusive contract by the NSF to be the sole domain name registrar for .com, .net and .org top level domain (TLD) names. NSI also maintained the central database of assigned names called WHOIS. Network Solutions acted as a de facto registrar, selling names directly to end users.

In 1995, the National Science Foundation gave NSI authority to charge for domain name registrations. Network Solutions charged $100 for two years registration was imposed on all domains; 30% of this revenue went to NSF to create an "Internet Intellectual Infrastructure Fund." In 1997, a lawsuit was filed charging Network Solutions with antitrust violations with regards to domain names. The 30% of the registration fee that went to the NSF was ruled by a court to be an illegal tax. This led to a reduction in the domain name registration fee to $70.

Network Solutions' $100 charge, which many parties believed was excessive, in addition to its monopoly position in the market, was one of the contributing pressures that resulted in the creation of the International Ad Hoc Committee and its failed attempt to take control of the domain name system, and to the U.S. Department of Commerce, NTIA releasing the White Paper and ultimately contracting with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to administer the DNS.

With the formation of ICANN, the domain name industry opened up to partial competition, with NSI retaining its monopoly on .com, .net and .org but having to recognize a separation of registry and registrar. By the end of 1999 the fee for registration had been reduced to a wholesale rate of $6 per year to registered resellers.