May 16, 2008 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- According to reports posted Thursday, .com registry operator and security firm VeriSign (verisign.com) won a patent this week for the controversial redirect service it said helped users find the sites they were looking for.
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VeriSign has long since shut down the Site Finder service, which would redirect a user who visited a mistyped URL to a page that was more than a bit like the sort of paid link-lists that populate many parked domains. The company says it does not intend to bring back the service, and has declined to comment on what it intends to do with the newly acquired patent. There has been some speculation online that the company could use the patent to charge licensing fees from ISPs that have since started using similar redirecting tactics.
The original Site Finder service was suspended by VeriSign after the company met with widespread criticism following its implementation.
And, since VeriSign cited similar pre-existing services in defending the Site Finder service, the argument that there were similar services pre-dating Site Finder would seem to hold water, should VeriSign attempt to pursue licensing fees.
