Windstream pulls Verisign Blunder

It seems that this week Windstream pulled the classic Verisign blunder. Domain names that do not exist in DNS systems around the world are now resolving to (principally) wwww23.entry-not-found.com (63.251.179.32). This is a trick where the DNS operator is trying to monetize a simple information stream by "typo squatting" every unresolved domain. Modifying slightly what was written in the "Stop Verisign DNS Abuse" petition hosted at petitiononline.com there are a number of problems with this as the system:

1. breaks technical standards by rewriting the expected error codes to instead point to a revenue generation site rife with advertisements and a non-obvious statement that the server could not be found. This threatens the security and stability of the Internet;
2. breaks technical standards affecting email services and other Internet systems;
3. is anti-competitive, providing Windstream with visitors to a site while not paying for the domains they are resolving. All other market participants pay several dollars per domain per year;
4. violates trademark rights of domain holders, by "typo squatting" on their top-level domains; and
5. violates the authoritative nature of Domain Name Servers, turning the system into a "best guess" system filled with uncertainty, thereby destroying the coherence of the Domain Name System for Windstream's own short-term profit.

Apparently, the solution is to ensure that your DNS entries are listed as:

• First: ns1-auth.alltel.net
• Second: ns2-auth.alltel.net
• Third: ns3-auth.alltel.net

I'll be testing this solution later today.