CEO Smackdown: Go Daddy vs. NetSol

Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons has taken exception to comments by Network Solutions CEO Champ Mitchell in an interview with news.com, which included comments about Go Daddy. Parsons has responded on his weblog, offering a different take on domain statistics for the two registrars, and challenging NetSol to a public comparison of customer counts:

Both Go Daddy and Network Solutions use the same public accounting firm. I challenge Mr. Mitchell to allow the accounting firm to examine both of our records and to provide a report we can make public, that will attest to our number of active customers. If Mr. Mitchell agrees to this challenge I think he will find out that the number of customers at The Go Daddy Group is far from "only a fraction" of those at The Network Solutions Group of companies.

I wonder if Network Solutions' spokesdog Rapid Rocco will use his blog to accept the challenge.

Posted by RichM August 14, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

May 4, 2005

NetSol Blamed for Hushmail Hijack

Lapses at Network Solutions are being blamed in the temporary hijacking of the domain name for Hushmail's email service. It sounds like the hijacker used social engineering techniques to gain access to Hushmail's DNS nameserver settings, and redirected the site to another server. "We are aware that a hacker temporarily altered this customer's [DNS records]," said Network Solutions spokeswoman Susan Wade told eWeek. "Our security team promptly rectified the situation."

Posted by RichM May 4, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter

April 26, 2005

Go Daddy Passes NetSol as Top Registrar

Go Daddy says it has now passed Network Solutions to become the world�s top domain name registrar, citing the latest data from Name Intelligence, Inc.

On April 17, Go Daddy passed Network Solutions, finishing the day with 6,830,420 domains under management to NetSol's 6,822,496, according to RegistrarStats. The leadership change, which has been inevitable for some time given the trajectories of the two providers, nonetheless marked the end of an era.

"GoDaddy.com�s rise to the preeminent domain name registrar is a watershed event in the history of the domain name industry," said Jay Westerdal, CEO, of Name Intelligence. "This is the first time that any registrar, other than Network Solutions, has ever held the No. 1 position."

Posted by RichM April 26, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter