‘Cybersquatters’ Must Pay First

Network Solutions will begin requiring customers to pay for Internet domain names at the time they register them, a move that is expected to cut back on the practice of “cybersquatting.” The change will take effect in September, the company said. Cybersquatters typically sign up for domain names they believe are commercially valuable, then offer to sell rights to the names at a premium. Critics of the practice have complained that Network Solutions’ current billing system lets cybersquatters tie up hundreds of domain names without having to pay for them because the company’s invoices take weeks or months to process. Jim Rutt, chief executive of the Herndon, Va.-based company, said the new policy will minimize such abuses. Customers registering domain names online will be able to pay the $70 sign-up fee with their credit cards.