---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 15:26:37 -0400
From: Michael Kimsal
To: president@adobe.com
Cc: webmaster@adobe.com, news@slashdot.org, editor@wsj.com, 
camworld.com, editor@time.com, editor@freep.com, 
editor@detnews.com, editor@washpost.com
Subject: Apparent hijacked domain name - adobe.com

In attempting to download Adobe viewer, I encountered some problems with
the site - specifically downloading Adobe products through ftp.adobe.com.  
A 30 second cursory inspection showed that ftp.adobe.com was not, in fact, 
a valid machine name.  Further inspection (checking the registrant info at 
networksolutions.com) proved that the domain name adobe.com was now controlled 
by a company in China (www.paycenter.com.cn).  This SEEMS like the domain name 
was hijacked or at least snatched because Adobe was remiss in making a payment.  
(Adobe are the people responsible for PDF viewers, which enable high-quality 
electronic reproductions of paper documents).

Trying to reach support at Adobe has been a nightmare.  The only people
who spoke with me either pushed me to voicemail or just had NO idea what 
I was talking about.  To further compound the problem, the tech support 
people were denied from leaving the internal network, so could not look 
at the networksolutions.com page to see the info I was referring to.

Trying to reach ANYONE with any authority at corporate headquarters was
greeted with voicemailbox after voicemailbox, and all phone receptionists 
(with the exception of a 'Robert') were unresponsive to what is a potentially 
very serious issue. If your business is in a serious situation (with apparently 
NO ONE aware of this fact) would you prefer a voicemail to be heard hours or 
days later? The fact that there is pretty much NO method of getting ahold of 
a human being with any authority at Adobe should be a matter for serious review 
of internal policies.

As it stands now, adobe.com domain name information, as viewed through
networksolutions.com, is controlled by a company in China. The domains
ftp.adobe.com, cgi.adobe.com and others are non-functional. Goodness
knows how long this has been the case, and how many registrations and 
product downloads this has cost Adobe - it certainly speaks ill of their 
support mechanism, if not their ability to respond to crisis.

==========================
Michael Kimsal
http://www.tapinternet.com
734-480-9961