<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px;"><b><span></span></b></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px;"><b><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></b></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font face="Times New Roman" size="6" style="font: 24.0px Times New Roman"><b>Network Solutions Sued For Defrauding Millions</b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> <br> </font><font face="Times New Roman" size="5" style="font: 18.0px Times New Roman"><b>ICANN also named in Class Action</b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> <br> </font><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><br></font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Times New Roman">LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Network Solutions has forced millions of people to buy Internet domain names from them instead of cheaper competitors through a scheme that's netted the firm millions of dollars, a federal class action lawsuit filed today by Kabateck Brown Kellner, LLP states. ICANN, whose policies facilitate the scheme, is also named in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of California.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Times New Roman">"Imagine if you asked a car dealer if they had a black convertible and were then forced to buy the car from them. Would you get a good deal? Each time someone asks Network Solutions about a domain name, the firm creates a monopoly for itself, forcing consumers to pay the price they demand," said Brian Kabateck, lead counsel in the class action and Kabateck Brown Kellner's Managing Partner.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Times New Roman">Whenever someone searches for the availability of a domain name through Network Solutions' website, the company immediately registers the name for itself, preventing other companies from selling it and forcing consumers to pay Network Solutions' expensive fees.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Times New Roman">If a consumer were to go to another, cheaper site to register the name, they would find the name is "unavailable." Consumers are never informed that inquiring as to a name's availability through Network Solutions results in the company holding a monopoly on selling that name.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Times New Roman">This allows Network Solutions to continue charging substantially higher prices for domain name registration. Network Solutions charged $34.99 to register the name sought by this suit's lead plaintiff. A competitor would have charged $9.99.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Times New Roman">Network Solutions' scheme is made possible by ICANN. ICANN allows companies that sell domain names to avoid paying registration fees for names cancelled within five days. Thus, Network Solutions can defraud customers at no cost to itself.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Times New Roman">ICANN is aware that Network Solutions is abusing this policy and yet continues to facilitate its actions.</font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> <br> </font><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Times New Roman">ICANN is the international organization, headquartered in Marina Del Rey, CA, that regulates domain names and other Internet protocols.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Times New Roman">Kabateck Brown Kellner is one of the nation's foremost consumer law firms. Its clients have won more than $750 million against Google, Yahoo!, Farmer's Insurance, Eli Lilly and others. As a plaintiff's-only firm, Kabateck Brown Kellner is always on the consumers' side.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman'"><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></font></p><br><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>IP JUSTICE</div><div>Robin Gross, Executive Director</div><div>1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 USA</div><div>p: +1-415-553-6261 f: +1-415-462-6451</div><div>w: <a href="http://www.ipjustice.org">http://www.ipjustice.org</a> e: <a href="mailto:robin@ipjustice.org">robin@ipjustice.org</a></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </div><br></body></html>