Here is a news item I saw today which all people who currently have hosting at Network Solutions should know: used subdomains of your domain are sent to a Network Solutions advertising page. The article explains everything you need to know:

Earlier this week, a man named Win Betteridge told TechCrunch that Network Solutions pulled this clever little trick with his “social gaming” site, GotGame.com. Betteridge hosts GotGame with “NetSol,” and somewhere along the way, he realized that his unused GotGame sub-domains resolved to ad-infested “parking” pages.

“For instance, app.gotgame.com resolves to a Network Solutions page with text links, including ‘Poker Tournaments’ and ‘Texas Holdem Games,’” he said.

Network Solutions apparently has a clause buried deep within their hosting agreement which gives them the right do this. Considering you are paying for both the domain and the hosting, I don’t see how this can be justified at all. I understand it is covered in the agreement, but it should never be in there in the first place. If I were a customer of Network Solutions, I would be furious.

There is an “opt out” program somewhere, so if you are a customer of Network Solutions, I would look into opting out… or finding another host.