Internet Registrations Australia may have touched a nerve of domain name owners, with one claiming to have received 21 letters from the company that warn of a -real security risk" unless all extensions to existing Web addresses are registered.

The recipient of the letters claims to have contacted the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) about the issue.

He provided ZDNet Australia with access to copies of the offending mail, he claims to have received. It warns the reader: -Protect your company name now by registering all extensions to your existing Web address. For some it may already be too late."

The advertising material also warns against the practices of other domain registration companies. "There are a number of companies who claim to be Channel Partners. However, you need to be sure you are dealing with a licensed provider of domain services. Be wary of unlicensed providers, and providers that misrepresent the meaning of extensions such as '.bz'," it reads.

At least one other person on the DNS mailing list hosted by auDA, upon which the topic is currently being discussed, claims to have received the mail.

The advertising practices of domain name registrars have been increasingly under the spotlight in recent months.

The new registry for the .au domain is set to go live on July 1, and the industry hopes the auDA code of conduct which registrars have to sign will force them to bring resellers into line.

The ACCC said it could not comment on whether or not it had received complaints against IRA.

IRA has been contacted for comment.

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