The managing director of NetRegistry, Larry Bloch, said the company would not stand by remarks made by director Giles Donovan, who had earlier blasted auDA for allegedly not supporting NetRegistry's actions against Australian domain name reseller NetRegister and its parent Internet Registry.
Donovan said earlier he did not believe auDA was doing enough to clean up the industry.
"The auDA cannot regulate it's own backyard in this country. We pay good money to them to be our regulator and they have offered absolutely zero support to close down the activities of Internet Registry," he said. "They've got a willing plaintiff, it's a black and white case, and they are not prepared to spend a cent." He said simply setting policy was not worth AU$11 for each domain name.
NetRegistry has threatened legal proceedings against Internet Registry after the company sent a letter soliciting domain name renewals under the moniker NetRegister. As a result auDA and NetRegistry have been swamped with calls from people complaining of the letter and accusing NetRegistry of using dodgy marketing practices, Donovan had earlier told ZDNet Australia.
"They've [auDA] said it unequivocally, they are not going to support a plaintiff action to put this company out of business and as far as I'm concerned it is their role in the domain name industry," Donovan said. "They're our regulator. If they're not there to clean it up what the hell are they there for?"
"The message is clear. If you're a domain-name spammer, come to Australia, because the regulator here has got no will, no power and no enthusiasm to put you out of business," said Donovan.
Chris Disspain, CEO of auDA, told ZDNet Australia it was in talks with lawyers and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission concerning NetRegister and he couldn't comment any further.
"NetRegistry may have an action against Internet Registry Pty Ltd for passing off because the names are so similar. That is a matter for NetRegistry," said Disspain. "They approached us and asked if we would pay their costs of bringing the action which, of course, we cannot do."
Disspain said that auDA can deal with accredited registrars and registered resellers under the code of practice, but if they were operating outside the system auDA had to resort to the Trade Practices Act.
Donovan said they were going to use the full extent of the law to "wipe NetRegister off the map". Their list of demands include: not trading under name NetRegister, writing to all the entities [who received the original letter] and explaining they had been misled, and not abusing [NetRegistry's] good will, trademarks and brands ever again, among others.
Chesley Rafferty, managing director of Internet Registry, told ZDNet Australia the company was seeking legal advice and was therefore unable to comment on the matter.
