"VeriSign was sued in 2002 for their actions in sending ambiguous emails informing people, often incorrectly, that their domain was about to expire and inviting them to click on a link to renew it. Renewing the domain resulted in the registration company being transferred to VeriSign from the previous registrar."
Ok, I didn't know that. What I should investigate is whether the same people that authorized those shady tactics are still in charge there (or whether that culture persists).
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/05/14/verisign_hit_with_sl...
through Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name_scams#cite_note-6
"VeriSign was sued in 2002 for their actions in sending ambiguous emails informing people, often incorrectly, that their domain was about to expire and inviting them to click on a link to renew it. Renewing the domain resulted in the registration company being transferred to VeriSign from the previous registrar."