Network Solutions, in a press release on Friday, encouraged ICANN to enact a 20-cent fee on excessive deletions made during Add Grace Periods. The registrar hopes the fee will diminish profits for tasters, reducing the number of domains withheld from the mainstream market by speculators gaming the system.

According to the release, tasting and kiting are only part of the problem. Network Solutions believes that front-running, i.e. surreptitiously monitoring name searches and registering available names, will also decrease, if the fee is imposed. The proposed fee would apply to registrars having more than 10% of their monthly volume deleted during Add Grace Periods.

Network Solutions currently has its own anti-front-running measure in place, in which name searches performed at networksolutions.com can be reserved for four days, only registrable via their site. In the release, they agreed to discontinue that practice if ICANN approves the fee. ICANN is expected to consider the proposal on June 26 as part of the budget for the 2009 fiscal year, the release said.

News report compiled by Nathan Hawks