Internet Name Group (ING) has been linked to another domain registry company, Internet Name Protection, which has been accused by CEO of .nz domain register, Domainz, Derek Locke of running a scam.
ING -- whose marketing activities have been suspended pending the outcome of an Australian Competiton and Consumer Commission (ACCC) investigation for alleged misleading and deceptive conduct -- has been linked to the Victoria registered INP, which has been accused by Locke of using scare-tactics in a mass mail-out scam aimed at '.co.nz' domain licence holders.
The company is believed to have mailed up to 80,000 companies warning them that their business could be under threat from individuals registering their names under the '.net.nz' space.
The mail-out prompted Domainz to issue a statement accusing Internet Name Protection of "creating fear and uncertainty, in a bid to extract money from New Zealand Internet users".
Sasha Sudekov has admitted that INP and ING are related, but defended the marketing strategy taken by the company. He argues that the letter is completely legitimate and said there are currently no regulations that ensure businesses can protect their trademarks in the '.co.nz' or '.net.nz' name space.
It's far from being a scam...it lets corresponding domain name owners see if there is a ['.net.nz'] version of their name available and giving them an opportunity to register it for themselves," said Sudakov.
Sudakov gave numerous of examples of entities that have faced the cost of retrieving their trademarks from the '.com' space. He argues New Zealand's domain regulatory environment permits the same activity within the .nz space.
INP's pricing policy has also come under scrutiny. The company offered to register the names in the '.net.nz' domain space for NZ$125 but then fulfilled the service using a cut-price automated domain registry service, pdom.com.
"It appears that our company www.pdom.com is unwittingly involved in the ING scam because of its position as NZ's cheapest registrar at US$14 per year (NZ$28 + GST per year)," said pdom.com, CEO Robert Wiles.
The NZ$125 service fee represents a 500 percent mark-up and a margin of around NZ$97 per client.
Sudakov defended INP's pricing policy saying that it was in line with other registrars and, in some cases, cheaper.
According to Sudakov its charges are only slightly in excess of generic resellers like Melbourne IT (AU$110 per domain registration) and Network Solutions ($US65 per year).
-Telstra charge AU$330 for domain and delegation...Fairfax charge $AU212 plus AU$180 for Web and e-mail forwarding which we provide free," he said.
(Telstra's price includes 2 years registration.)
-We're the second largest domain registrar in Australia, we have 14 percent of the '.com.au' market in Australia but we do charge a premium and we have no qualms about it," said Sudakov. -It's a free market enterprise and we have a right to charge anything we want and if people choose to use our service, that's fine".
Wiles said that pdom.com is still accepting registration applications from Internet Name Protection but has refused to register the two business names prompting an angry letter from Sudekov seeking advice from Domainz on how to proceed.
"Chuck em in the Bin!", I say when my clients receive any ING crap in the mail as "It's a SCAM".
Have been saying that, oh, umm, er for the last year or so.