VeriSign wins patent for Internet typo redirection

VeriSign Inc. said it has no intentions of resurrecting the Site Finder service, but it declined further comment on its plans for the patent, including bloggers' speculation that it could now demand licensing fees from EarthLink Inc. and other companies that have since started similar efforts.

Normally, when you mistype a Web address, perhaps switching two letters, a generic error message often appears.

Site Finder sought to help guide surfers mistyping ".com" or ".net" names -which VeriSign runs -by offering a list of likely alternatives, including pay-for-placement listings for which VeriSign got a share of revenues when users clicked on one.

Although Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser and others already offered similar services, VeriSign was criticized when it launched Site Finder in 2003 because of the influence the company already had as the keeper of the traffic-control directories containing all ".com" and ".net" names.

VeriSign agreed to suspend the service under mounting pressure. Despite the March 4 patent approval, the company says it "does not intend to relaunch related services."

If VeriSign tries to demand licensing fees from others, patent lawyers could claim that similar services existed before Verisign's was patented. In fact, VeriSign had cited those pre-existing services in justifying Site Finder.

Time Warner Cable Inc.'s Road Runner and Verizon Communications Inc. are among the service providers that have launched or tested such services to tap the growth in search advertising. OpenDNS also offers it to users of its free directory services crucial for translating a Web site's domain name into its actual numeric Internet address.

EarthLink was recently criticized after security researchers discovered a vulnerability with its U.K.-based service partner, Barefruit. Officials say that the flaw was quickly fixed and that no users were harmed.