Commission urges caution when
dealing with Domain Names NZ
Media Release 2003/14
Issued 7 August 2003
The Commerce Commission is aware of a mass mail out by a business
trading as Domain Names NZ, and strongly urges caution when dealing with
the organisation.
The Commission has received in excess of 100 contacts this week from
members of the public who have received correspondence from Domain Names
NZ, which gives the impression of an invoice or a renewal notice.
“Domain Names NZ appears to be sending pro-forma letters to
registrants of .co.nz domain names. The letters seek fees for the
registration of the .net.nz version of the same name,” said Deborah
Battell, Director of Fair Trading at the Commission.
“The Commission is concerned that current registrants of .co.nz may be
being misled into thinking they are in fact paying to re-register their
current domain name.
“People are urged to look carefully at all details before paying any
sum requested,” Ms Battell said.
“In the meantime, the Commission will continue to look into this
issue.”
Background
The Domain Name Commissioner is not aware of any authorised .nz domain
name registrar using the trade name ‘Domain Names NZ’.
The letters to registrants specify a .net.nz domain name to be
registered. Bona fide .nz domain name registrars are not permitted to
specify a particular domain name in an offer of registry services.
The Domain Names Commissioner is also monitoring the situation and will
investigate any possible breaches of .nz policy.
Media contact:
Deborah Battell, Director of Fair Trading Act
Phone work (04) 924 3760, mobile 029 924 3760
Jackie Maitland, Communications Manager
Phone work (04) 924 3708, mobile 029 924 3708
Latest "net.au" mail out by Domain Names
Australia Pty Ltd
Melbourne, 17 July 2003 – auDA has become aware that Domain
Names Australia Pty Ltd (DNA) is sending letters and/or faxes to some
domain name registrants regarding the net.au version of their .au domain
name being available or unregistered.
The communication is headed “Domain Name Registration” and could,
in auDA’s opinion, be easily mistaken for an invoice. To this extent,
auDA considers that the communication could be misleading or deceptive.
DNA is a company controlled by Mr Chesley Rafferty, who is also a
Director of Internet Registry Pty Ltd.
auDA took legal action against Mr Rafferty and Internet Registry in
2002, as a result of which Mr Rafferty gave several undertakings in the
Federal Court.
auDA believes that this latest mail out by DNA is in breach of some
of Mr Rafferty's undertakings, and we are pursuing the matter
vigourously.
If you have received a net.au letter from DNA and you wish to lodge a
formal complaint, please send an email to info@auda.org.au.
