<s>
Site	B-Protocol
Finder	I-Protocol
was	O
a	O
wildcard	B-Protocol
DNS	I-Protocol
record	I-Protocol
for	O
all	O
.com	O
and	O
.net	B-Application
unregistered	O
domain	O
names	O
,	O
run	O
by	O
.com	O
and	O
.net	B-Application
top-level	O
domain	O
operator	O
VeriSign	B-Application
between	O
15	O
September	O
2003	O
and	O
4	O
October	O
2003	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
Internet	O
users	O
who	O
accessed	O
any	O
unregistered	O
domains	O
in	O
the	O
.com	O
and	O
.net	B-Application
domain	O
space	O
,	O
were	O
redirected	O
to	O
a	O
VeriSign	B-Application
web	O
portal	O
with	O
information	O
about	O
VeriSign	B-Application
products	O
and	O
links	O
to	O
"	O
partner	O
"	O
sites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
gave	O
VeriSign	B-Application
the	O
advantage	O
of	O
receiving	O
greater	O
revenue	O
from	O
advertising	O
and	O
from	O
users	O
wishing	O
to	O
register	O
these	O
domain	O
names	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
had	O
the	O
effect	O
of	O
"	O
capturing	O
"	O
the	O
web	O
traffic	O
for	O
several	O
million	O
mis-typed	O
or	O
experimental	O
web	O
accesses	O
per	O
day	O
,	O
and	O
meant	O
that	O
VeriSign	B-Application
effectively	O
"	O
owned	O
"	O
all	O
possible	O
.com	O
and	O
.net	B-Application
domains	O
that	O
had	O
not	O
been	O
bought	O
by	O
others	O
,	O
and	O
could	O
use	O
them	O
as	O
an	O
advertising	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeriSign	B-Application
described	O
the	O
change	O
as	O
an	O
attempt	O
to	O
improve	O
the	O
Web	O
browsing	O
experience	O
for	O
the	O
naive	O
user	O
,	O
without	O
mentioning	O
any	O
use	O
the	O
domain	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
system	I-Protocol
other	O
than	O
by	O
browsers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeriSign	B-Application
's	O
critics	O
saw	O
this	O
claim	O
as	O
disingenuous	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Certainly	O
,	O
the	O
change	O
led	O
to	O
a	O
dramatic	O
increase	O
in	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
Internet	O
traffic	O
arriving	O
at	O
verisign.com	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
the	O
web	O
traffic	O
measurement	O
company	O
Alexa	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
year	O
prior	O
to	O
the	O
change	O
verisign.com	B-Application
was	O
around	O
the	O
2,500	O
th	O
most	O
popular	O
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
was	O
a	O
storm	O
of	O
controversy	O
among	O
network	O
operators	O
and	O
competing	O
domain	O
registrars	O
,	O
particularly	O
on	O
the	O
influential	O
NANOG	O
and	O
ICANN	B-Application
mailing	O
lists	O
,	O
some	O
of	O
whom	O
asserted	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
that	O
the	O
redirection	O
was	O
contrary	O
to	O
the	O
proper	O
operation	O
of	O
the	O
DNS	B-Protocol
,	O
ICANN	B-Application
policy	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Internet	O
architecture	O
in	O
general	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
that	O
VeriSign	B-Application
breached	O
its	O
trust	O
with	O
the	O
Internet	O
community	O
by	O
using	O
technical	O
architecture	O
for	O
marketing	O
purposes	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
that	O
the	O
redirection	O
amounted	O
to	O
typosquatting	B-Protocol
where	O
the	O
unregistered	O
domain	O
being	O
resolved	O
is	O
a	O
spelling	O
mistake	O
for	O
a	O
famous	O
registered	O
domain	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
that	O
VeriSign	B-Application
abused	O
its	O
technical	O
control	O
over	O
the	O
.com	O
and	O
.net	B-Application
domains	O
by	O
exerting	O
a	O
de	O
facto	O
monopoly	O
control	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
that	O
VeriSign	B-Application
may	O
have	O
been	O
in	O
breach	O
of	O
its	O
contracts	O
for	O
running	O
the	O
.com	O
and	O
.net	B-Application
domains	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
that	O
the	O
Site	B-Protocol
Finder	I-Protocol
service	O
assumed	O
that	O
all	O
DNS	B-Protocol
traffic	O
was	O
caused	O
by	O
Web	O
clients	O
,	O
ignoring	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
DNS	B-Protocol
is	O
used	O
by	O
other	O
applications	O
such	O
as	O
networked	O
printers	O
,	O
FTP	B-Protocol
software	O
,	O
and	O
dedicated	O
communications	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
No	O
statement	O
by	O
VeriSign	B-Application
in	O
support	O
of	O
Site	B-Protocol
Finder	I-Protocol
even	O
acknowledged	O
the	O
existence	O
of	O
DNS	B-Protocol
traffic	O
not	O
caused	O
by	O
Web	O
clients	O
,	O
although	O
they	O
published	O
implementation	O
details	O
which	O
mentioned	O
this	O
traffic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
that	O
Site	B-Protocol
Finder	I-Protocol
contained	O
an	O
end-user	O
license	O
agreement	O
which	O
stated	O
that	O
the	O
user	O
accepts	O
the	O
terms	O
by	O
using	O
the	O
service	O
—	O
but	O
since	O
mistyping	O
an	O
address	O
automatically	O
caused	O
the	O
service	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
,	O
users	O
could	O
not	O
refuse	O
to	O
accept	O
the	O
terms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Others	O
were	O
concerned	O
that	O
the	O
Site	B-Protocol
Finder	I-Protocol
service	O
was	O
written	O
entirely	O
in	O
English	O
and	O
therefore	O
was	O
not	O
accessible	O
by	O
non-English	O
speakers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Internet	O
Architecture	O
Board	O
composed	O
a	O
document	O
detailing	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
technical	O
arguments	O
against	O
registry-level	O
wildcards	O
;	O
this	O
was	O
used	O
by	O
ICANN	B-Application
as	O
part	O
of	O
its	O
supporting	O
arguments	O
for	O
its	O
action	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
workarounds	O
were	O
developed	O
to	O
locally	O
disable	O
the	O
effects	O
of	O
Site	B-Protocol
Finder	I-Protocol
on	O
a	O
per-network	O
basis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
notably	O
,	O
the	O
Internet	O
Systems	O
Consortium	O
announced	O
that	O
it	O
had	O
produced	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
BIND	B-Protocol
DNS	B-Protocol
software	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
configured	O
by	O
Internet	O
service	O
providers	O
to	O
filter	O
out	O
wildcard	B-Protocol
DNS	I-Protocol
from	O
certain	O
domains	O
;	O
this	O
software	O
was	O
deployed	O
by	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
ISPs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
October	O
4	O
,	O
2003	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
a	O
strong	O
letter	O
from	O
ICANN	B-Application
,	O
VeriSign	B-Application
disabled	O
Site	B-Protocol
Finder	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
VeriSign	B-Application
has	O
made	O
public	O
statements	O
that	O
suggest	O
that	O
they	O
may	O
be	O
considering	O
whether	O
they	O
will	O
change	O
this	O
decision	O
in	O
the	O
future	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
February	O
27	O
,	O
2004	O
,	O
VeriSign	B-Application
filed	O
a	O
lawsuit	O
against	O
ICANN	B-Application
,	O
claiming	O
that	O
ICANN	B-Application
had	O
overstepped	O
its	O
authority	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
claim	O
regarded	O
not	O
only	O
Site	B-Protocol
Finder	I-Protocol
,	O
but	O
also	O
VeriSign	B-Application
's	O
much-criticised	O
Wait	B-Protocol
Listing	I-Protocol
Service	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
claim	O
was	O
dismissed	O
in	O
August	O
2004	O
;	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
lawsuit	O
continued	O
,	O
and	O
culminated	O
in	O
a	O
March	O
1	O
,	O
2006	O
settlement	O
between	O
VeriSign	B-Application
and	O
ICANN	B-Application
which	O
included	O
"	O
a	O
new	O
registry	O
agreement	O
relating	O
to	O
the	O
operation	O
of	O
the	O
.COM	O
registry.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
9	O
,	O
2004	O
,	O
the	O
ICANN	B-Application
Security	O
and	O
Stability	O
Advisory	O
Committee	O
(	O
SSAC	O
)	O
handed	O
down	O
its	O
findings	O
after	O
an	O
investigation	O
on	O
Site	B-Protocol
Finder	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
found	O
that	O
the	O
service	O
should	O
not	O
be	O
deployed	O
before	O
ICANN	B-Application
and/or	O
appropriate	O
engineering	O
communities	O
were	O
offered	O
the	O
opportunity	O
to	O
review	O
a	O
proposed	O
implementation	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
domain	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
registries	I-Protocol
that	O
provide	O
a	O
service	O
to	O
third	O
parties	O
should	O
phase	O
out	O
wildcard	O
records	O
if	O
they	O
are	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
