possible bug report re: (malformed?) internet addresses

[fredthetree]

$ ping "mr-chips-.deviantart.com"
ping: cannot resolve mr-chips-.deviantart.com: Unknown server error

$ ping "etc-etc-etc.deviantart.com"
PING etc-etc-etc.deviantart.com (69.28.181.43): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 69.28.181.43: icmp_seq=0 ttl=50 time=108.127 ms


At first it may seem logical to point the blame to the server, after
noting "Unknown server error," however, I am perfectly able to connect
to this address on a Windows machine.  The problem is reproducible
with any address which has a "-" before a "."

I am not sure where the problem lies, it is obviously not just within
'ping,' as I first noticed this problem within firefox/mozilla.