It appears that someone at ICANN is feeding domain name lookups to people on the outside so that they can hold them for ransome.

If you have ever checked if a domain is available, and come back a few hours later to discover that someone has taken it, you know what I mean.

ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee is looking into suspicions that someone with access to search requests has been using this data to snap up potentially desirable domains, a process dubbed domain name front running.

Unlike traditional domain speculation, those who buy searched-for domains can be pretty sure of a potential interest when they attempt to sell their domains at a profit.

Damn straight. You already know that someone wants the domain, because they have searched for it.

Suspicions that the sharp practice is happening have not yet been proven, but are fuelled by user experiences suggesting something is amiss. Many people who check to see if a domain is available reportedly find it’s been bought by the time they return a short time later.

But the allegations are true, as anyone who has had this happen to them over, and over, and over again can attest.

If you want a domain, you need to snapit it up immediately after the search.