ICANN's Security Committee is asking for everyone's help in trying to ascertain whether Domain Name Front Running – a domain availability check done by one person means the domain is registered by someone else – really does exist.
ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC)has just published a preliminary study on a practice they call "Domain Names Front Running" or "Domain Names Grabbing".
There's long been suspicions inside the naming industry that domain name availability queries are sometimes "hijacked" or intercepted and used by a third party to register the name just queried on the assumption that if someone bothered to check if the domain was free, then someone must want it, so it must be worth something.
Nobody's ever been able to produce conclusive evidence that Front Running even exists, although as SSAC's report states, there are several possible ways Front Running could be done, from "sniffer" viruses planted directly on a user's computer to ISPs illegally selling search data, with a host of options in between. SSAC even mentions coincidence as a possible cause.
Stopping the rumor from turning into fact by itself
Bottom line: no-one really knows if Front Running really does happen with regards to domain names (the term has its roots in the financial industry). Some potential registrants perceive that parties associated with the domain name registration process participate in domain name front running," SSAC says in its report. "SSAC believes that preventing this perception from evolving to accepted wisdom is an important consideration for the domain name community."
Very wise. If the practice of front running really is happening, it's best to be sure. And if it isn't, it's best to root out an unfounded suspicion that it is. SSAC adds that "at this time, no Internet user has presented sufficient information to conclude that any party associated with the domain name registration process engages in domain name front running."
So to find out more, SSAC is calling for public comment and would like anyone with a suspected case of DN front running on their hands to submit it by email to ssac-dnfr@icann.org . SSAC will then study any reported incidents to see if DN front running really is happening or not.
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