ZDNet Australia has received information from a reader concerning a letter that was sent to him informing of the closure of ING, and warning they could lose their domain names if they didn't reregister with a different domain name reseller.
The letter was from a company called NetRegister, which shares the same address as domain name reseller Internet Registry, which is also listed as the registrant for the NetRegister Web site. The letter has already received a response from auDA-accredited registrar NetRegistry, who have threatened legal action over the similarity of the name.
"I am sick and tired of our industry being plagued by scammers", said Larry Bloch, CEO of NetRegistry in a statement. "I hope the new auDA reseller and registrar terms and conditions put auDA in a strong position to make business for Internet Registry impossible...NetRegistry will be taking action in the courts to protect our good standing."
Bloch said that NetRegistry had compiled evidence to assist the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to shut down ING, and would be targeting Internet Registry this time. "What particularly annoys me is they are trading off the good name of NetRegistry, with the name NetRegister - before they updated their mistake, Internet Registry even make the mistake of promoting an 'About Us' section on their NetRegister website, on which the title header was accidentally designed to read 'About NetRegistry'," he said.
auDA has already sent out a consumer alert concerning the letter. The alert points out that Internet Registry has previously come to the attention of auDA, and that the letter sent by NetRegister contained misleading information. That information included the implication that ING was a registrar and that registrants are in danger of losing their domain name. Both claims are false according to the consumer alert.
ZDNet Australia was unable to contact Internet Registry for comment.
Got the same letter, was a bit of a shock as I thought what they were saying was true until I did some research... Terrible business practices by NetRegister, very dissapointing.