ICANN shakes finger at DNS redirects

It’s become common for DNS providers to redirect users to third-party pages upon entering an incorrect URL. Called NXDOMAIN substitution, many ISPs practice this to make money. ICANN is calling out against this practice, however, citing its harmful effects:

1. If an email is accidentally sent to an incorrect domain and redirected, a failed-delivery message might take days to arrive.
2. Users experience greater wait times because of redirects.
3. Hackers can exploit third party redirect sites.
4. There are legal issues, as well. What if a user attempts to visit a certain site, but types it in wrong and is redirected to a website containing content illegal in his or her jurisdiction?

ICANN is considering banning NXDOMAIN substitution on new gTLDs. As far as I’m concerned, it shouldn’t be allowed at all.

Source | PC World
Photo | shadowspel