Network Solutions Wins Antitrust Appeal

A federal appeals court rejected charges that Network Solutions Inc., the company that registers most Internet addresses, had violated antitrust laws by failing to expand the pool of Net locations. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a lower court ruling last year that the Herndon, Va., firm did nothing wrong when it refused to add Internet domains to the existing system that includes .com, .org and .net. The three-judge panel agreed that the group of companies and individuals that brought the lawsuit lacked the legal standing to sue Network Solutions under antitrust law, mainly because none of the group actually competed with the address registrar.