[LINK] More Domain-Name Games?

[Adam Todd]

At 18:46 3/03/2005 +1100, Roger Clarke wrote:
>I've just received an unsolicited letter from Domains Australia Pty Ltd, 
>still advising at an imposing address in Collins St Melbourne.

Surprise, surprise.

>It states that "the domain name www.xamax.com is currently available for 
>registration", and offering to arrange registration for a 2-year period 
>for $225 inc. GST.
>
>(1)  is this outright fraud?  That was my first reaction.  But looking at
>      the info above, there's a plausible defence.  So if it's fraud,
>      then it's cleverly done

Based on your writing, the only plausible defence is that you pay the 
registration fee and the original owner gets to keep the domain name at 
your expense!  A Proxy payer!

If they promise to SELL you the domain or register it in YOUR NAME, then 
Fraud is a term that spring to mind, as the current owner is unlikely to 
sell, and if they did, I'm sure there would be a notice on their home page 
indicating this.

I'd strongly recommend referring the matter to the ACCC.  I'd suspect, and 
on a quick look across the next few Link postings and other mail lists I 
receive (or have forwarded to me) there are no shortage of people doing this.

I encourage people to ADD to the volume of input and complaint as it does 
actually work, especially if there is a somewhat coordinated approach to 
consolidate the referrals outside the ACCC.

Maybe we can encourage people to contact Josh Rowe via a web page form on 
his site to indicate they have been approached, some reference to a serial 
number of account number on the invoices, and whether they have referred 
the matter to the ACCC.  Then he can consolidate a number of ACCC 
complaints and we can watch it grow.

auDA could assist in this by perhaps recommending Josh's web site as a 
point of contact and information?  Be that an unofficial referral, Josh has 
a LOT of information that will quickly scare people into ignoring their 
temptation in the future.


>(3)  how come they can monitor the DNS registry for this information?
>      I sought a service years ago to advise me if and when the
>      cybersquatted rogerclarke.com became available (due to the squatter
>      getting bored and not renewing).  My request was refused.  (But I
>      monitored it myself, and in due course got it).

I note that Josh "DNA Killer" Rowe is on the case :)  I'm sure Josh will 
have more information, well whatever more there is other than best warning 
people.

>      Is my memory wrong?  Or has ICANN permitted Verisign to pull yet
>      another fast one on the Internet community?

Not to my knowledge.

A lot of the registrars monitor the expiry date and start upselling similar 
names within a month or two before.

There is also the "expired hold" period where a lot more upselling takes 
place as well.  This is easy to predict if you capture the relevant data 
and monitor the domain names you wish to acquire.

<sigh>

It's even more a mess than it was way back when ...