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Network Solutions Inc. over the weekend quietly debuted a new Web site which it contends will improve customer usage in registering domain names, but has many users crying foul, since the process includes the removal of the InterNIC site.

Customers that try to go to Network Solutions' previous home page or to the InterNIC site are now redirected to a "consolidated" site. Network Solutions said the new site is faster to download, easier to read and offers descriptive words and phrases to direct customers to key areas of the site.

However, many users were taken by surprise by the change, since there was no advance notification of the redirection of the InternNIC site. The company also shifted the location of the WHOIS lookup page, which is now part of the section where modifications can be made.

In addition, customers are claiming that many of the scripts on the site are now broken and have to be rewritten. Others claim that service level agreements (SLAs) have been violated by NetSol's action, and that fixes will take several days, making them look bad to their customers.

On a mail list, one client put it this way: "NSI apparently just doesn't (care)what anyone else thinks, they made that obvious today. Perhaps they are indeed powerful enough to run roughshod over everyone, time will tell. But I think a lot of people's positions will be hardened on the day the InterNIC died."

"Our number one goal with this Web site launch is to improve the customer experience," said Doug Wolford, Network Solutions' senior vice president, sales and marketing.

"We believe the changes we've made will increase the number of new customers that come to us and return to us as a valuable small business resource," Wolford said.