As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 7, 1998 Registration No. 333-______ - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 52-1146119 ------------------------------ ------------------------------ (State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer incorporation or organization) Identification No.) 505 Huntmar Park Drive Herndon, VA 20170 ------------------------------ ------------------------------ (Address of Principal (Zip Code) Executive Offices) NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC. 1997 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN (Full title of the plan) COPY TO: GABRIEL A. BATTISTA JONATHAN W. EMERY Network Solutions, Inc. Network Solutions, Inc. 505 Huntmar Park Drive 505 Huntmar Park Drive Herndon, VA 20170 Herndon, VA 20170 (703) 742-0400 (703) 742-0400 ------------------------------ ------------------------------ (Name, address and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service) CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title of Amount Proposed Maximum Proposed Amount of Securities To To Be Offering Price Maximum Aggregate Registration Be Registered Registered per Share(1) Offering Price(1) Fee - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Class A Common Stock, 250,000 shares $12.81 $3,202,500.00 $944.74 par value $.001 - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Estimated in accordance with Rule 457(c) for the purpose of computing the amount of the registration fee based on the average of the high and low prices of the Company's Common Stock as reported on the Nasdaq National Market on December 30, 1997. ----------------- The Registration Statement shall become effective upon filing in accordance with Rule 462 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. PART I INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS Item 1. Plan Information.* - ------ ---------------- Item 2. Registrant Information and Employee Plan Annual Information.* - ------ ----------------------------------------------------------- * Information required by Part I to be contained in the Section 10(a) prospectus is omitted from this Registration Statement in accordance with Rule 428 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and the Note to Part I of Form S-8. PART II INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT Item 3. Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference. - ------ ----------------------------------------------- The following documents filed by Registrant with the Securities and Exchange Commission are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement: (1) Registrant's prospectus dated September 26, 1997 filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act (in connection with Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1, File No. 333-30507 (the "Form S-1 Registration Statement")), which contains the statements of financial position of the Registrant as of December 31, 1995 and 1996 and as of June 30, 1997 (unaudited) and the related statements of operations, stockholders' equity and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 1994, for the period from January 1, 1995 to March 10, 1995 and March 11, 1995 to December 31, 1995, for the year ended December 31, 1996 and for the six months ended June 30, 1997 (unaudited), together with the report thereon of Price Waterhouse LLP, independent accountants. (2) The description of Registrant's Class A Common Stock contained in Registrant's registration statement on Form 8-A, filed August 8, 1997. In addition, all documents subsequently filed by Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents. Item 4. Description of Securities. - ------ ------------------------- Not applicable. -2- Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel. - ------ -------------------------------------- The financial statements of Network Solutions, Inc. incorporated by reference in this registration statement have been audited by Price Waterhouse LLP, independent auditors, to the extent indicated in its report thereon also incorporated by reference. Such financial statements have been incorporated herein by reference in reliance upon each of such reports given upon the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting. Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers. - ------ ----------------------------------------- Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law provides for the indemnification of officers, directors, and other corporate agents in terms sufficiently broad to indemnify such persons under certain circumstances for liabilities (including reimbursement for expenses incurred) arising under the Securities Act. Article IX of the Registrant's Restated Certificate of Incorporation (Exhibit 3.1(c) to the Form S-1 Registration Statement) limits the liability of the Registrant's directors to the extent and under the circumstances permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law. The Underwriting Agreement (Exhibit 1.1 to the Form S-1 Registration Statement) provides for indemnification by the Underwriters of the Registrant, its directors and officers, and by the Registrant of the Underwriters, for certain liabilities, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act, and affords certain rights of contribution with respect thereto. Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed. - ------ ----------------------------------- Not applicable. Item 8. Exhibits. - ------ -------- See Index to Exhibits. Item 9. Undertakings. - ------ ------------ (a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes: (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement: (i) To include any prospectus required by section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act; (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement; -3- (iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the registration statement is on Form S-3 or Form S-8, and the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to section 13 or section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement. (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering. (b) The undersigned Registrant hereby further undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant's annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. (c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. -4- SIGNATURES ---------- Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Herndon, State of Virginia, on January 7, 1998. NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC. By /s/ GABRIEL A. BATTISTA ------------------------------ Gabriel A. Battista Chief Executive Officer POWER OF ATTORNEY ----------------- KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Gabriel A. Battista and Robert J. Korzeniewski, and each of them his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, each with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments, including post-effective amendments, to this registration statement, and to file the same, with exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or his or her substitute or substitutes, may do or cause to be done by virtue hereof. Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the date indicated: Name Title Date ---- ----- ---- /s/ GABRIEL A. BATTISTA Chief Executive Officer and January 7, 1998 - ----------------------------- Director Gabriel A. Battista /s/ ROBERT J. KORZENIEWSKI Chief Financial Officer December 22, 1997 - ----------------------------- (Principal Financial Officer) Robert J. Korzeniewski Name Title Date ---- ----- ---- /s/ RUSSELL L. HELBERT* Controller (Principal December 26, 1997 - ----------------------------- Accounting Officer) Russell L. Helbert* /s/ MICHAEL A. DANIELS* Chairman of the Board January 6, 1998 - ----------------------------- Michael A. Daniels* /s/ J. ROBERT BEYSTER* Director December 26, 1997 - ----------------------------- J. Robert Beyster* /s/ CRAIG I. FIELDS* Director December 26, 1997 - ----------------------------- Craig I. Fields* /s/ JOHN E. GLANCY* Director December 26, 1997 - ----------------------------- John E. Glancy* /s/ WILLIAM A. ROPER, JR.* Director December 26, 1997 - ----------------------------- William A. Roper, Jr.* /s/ STRATTON D. SCALVOS* Director December 20, 1997 - ----------------------------- Stratton D. Scalvos /s/ DONALD N. TELAGE* Director December 19, 1997 - ----------------------------- Donald N. Telage* *By /s/ ROBERT J. KORZENIEWSKI ------------------------------ (Robert J. Korzeniewski, Attorney-in-Fact) INDEX TO EXHIBITS ----------------- Exhibit Number Exhibit - ------- ------- 4.1* Specimen Common Stock Certificate 5.1 Opinion regarding legality of securities to be offered 10.1 1997 Employee Stock Purchase Plan 23.1 Consent of Price Waterhouse LLP 23.2 Consent of Pillsbury Madison & Sutro LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1) 24.1 Power of Attorney (see page I) - ----------------- * Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1, No. 333-30507.