Domain name scams
Encyclopedia
Domain name scams are types of Intellectual property scams
or confidence scams in which unscrupulous domain name registrar
s attempt to generate revenue by tricking businesses into buying, listing or converting a domain name. The Office of Fair Trading
has outlined 2 types of domain name scams which are "Domain name registration scams" and "Domain name renewal scams". While others have identified them differently as a "domain registration scam", a "domain renewal scam" and a web directory
scam.
attempts to trick domain owners into switching from their existing registrar to theirs, under the pretense that the customer is simply renewing their subscription to their current registrar. The term derives from telephone slamming
.
, the domain name governing body, made changes to its policy for transferring domains between registrars. They introduced a single protective measure that can help prevent unauthorized transfers: domain locking. Critics, although advising owners to apply the new feature, said that this was an "unnecessary and customer-unfriendly change".
Scams in intellectual property
Scams in intellectual property or invention scams are a type of scam in which either inventors are lured to pay money for developing an idea but do not follow up on it, or investors pay money for a non existing product or for an invention never to be developed....
or confidence scams in which unscrupulous domain name registrar
Domain name registrar
A domain name registrar is an organization or commercial entity, accredited by both ICANN and generic top-level domain registry to sell gTLDs and/or by a country code top-level domain registry to sell ccTLDs; to manage the reservation of Internet domain names in accordance with the guidelines of...
s attempt to generate revenue by tricking businesses into buying, listing or converting a domain name. The Office of Fair Trading
Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading is a not-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator...
has outlined 2 types of domain name scams which are "Domain name registration scams" and "Domain name renewal scams". While others have identified them differently as a "domain registration scam", a "domain renewal scam" and a web directory
Web directory
A web directory or link directory is a directory on the World Wide Web. It specializes in linking to other web sites and categorizing those links....
scam.
Domain slamming
Domain slamming (also known as unauthorized transfers or domain name registration scams) is a scam in which the offending domain name registrarDomain name registrar
A domain name registrar is an organization or commercial entity, accredited by both ICANN and generic top-level domain registry to sell gTLDs and/or by a country code top-level domain registry to sell ccTLDs; to manage the reservation of Internet domain names in accordance with the guidelines of...
attempts to trick domain owners into switching from their existing registrar to theirs, under the pretense that the customer is simply renewing their subscription to their current registrar. The term derives from telephone slamming
Telephone slamming
Telephone slamming is an illegal telecommunications practice, in which a subscriber's telephone service is changed without their consent. Slamming became a more visible issue after the deregulation of the telecommunications industry in the mid-1980s, especially after several brutal price wars...
.
Prevention
In 2004, ICANNICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
, the domain name governing body, made changes to its policy for transferring domains between registrars. They introduced a single protective measure that can help prevent unauthorized transfers: domain locking. Critics, although advising owners to apply the new feature, said that this was an "unnecessary and customer-unfriendly change".
Timeline
This section outlines reported domain scams as a timeline of events, showing how they have evolved, companies involved and the outcome of complaints.- In 2001, the federal Competition Bureau (of Canada) issued a warning about documents that appeared to be invoices sent out by a business called the "Internet Registry of Canada."
- "Complaints received by the Competition Bureau indicate that the mailings from the 'Internet Registry of Canada' give the impression that it is affiliated with the Government of Canada or that it is an officially sanctioned agency registering domain names in Canada. The 'Internet Registry of Canada' is not associated with any government agency," the Competition Bureau advisory stated.
- VeriSignVeriSignVerisign, Inc. is an American company based in Dulles, Virginia that operates a diverse array of network infrastructure, including two of the Internet's thirteen root nameservers, the authoritative registry for the .com, .net, and .name generic top-level domains and the .cc and .tv country-code...
was sued in 2002 for their actions in sending ambiguous emails informing people, often incorrectly, that their domain was about to expire and inviting them to click on a link to renew it. Renewing the domain resulted in the registration company being transferred to VeriSign from the previous registrar.
- May 2002, Peter Kuryliw the sole director of 1473253 Ontario Incorporated (operating as Yellowbusiness.ca) pleaded guilty to targeting over 40,000 business and non-profit organizations with a deceptive mailout for their web directory.
- On 2nd July 2002, the "Domain Registry" served papers against Canada-based domain registrar Tucows Inc, for alleged defamation and is seeking $21m in damages. Tucows later said: "The Company (TucowsTucowsTucows was formed in Flint, Michigan, USA in 1993. It incorporated in Pennsylvania and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
) does not believe it will be liable for any damages and accordingly has not accrued any amounts at June 30, 2002."
- In 2002, Register.comRegister.comRegister.com was founded as a provider of Internet services by brothers Richard and Peter Forman and Dan Levine in 1994. In 1999, the company officially changed its name to Register.com....
sued Domain Registry of America (aka "Domain Renewal Group"), claiming the company illegally lured away thousands of customers by tricking them into transferring their domains.
- In 2002, the UK Advertising Watchdog Authority (ASA) slammed Domain Registry of Europe over similar mail shots.
- In response to this, Alan Freeman, Relations Manager for DRoE, said that the company - which also trades as Domain Registry of America and Domain Registry of Canada - had registered 1.1 million domains for customers and was registering between 5,000 and 7,000 new domains a day.
- In 2003, Dutch hosting provider Deinternetman pondered legal action against Domain Registry of Europe for sending their customers letters urging them to renew their domain contracts.
- In 2003, VeriSign was found not to have broken the law but were barred from suggesting that a domain was about to expire or that a transfer was actually a renewal.
- In 2003, the Federal Trade CommissionFederal Trade CommissionThe Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
reached a settlement with the Domain Registry of America for practices such as transferring domain registrations to their service under the guise of domain renewal, a practice known as domain slamming, and having hidden fees.
- In April 2004, James Tataka, Simon Benlolo, Alan Benlolo, and Elliot Benlolo were found guilty by a jury for violating the Competition ActCompetition ActThe Competition Act is a Canadian federal law governing most business conduct.The Act contains both criminal and civil provisions aimed at preventing anti-competitive practices in the marketplace....
. Their scam involved mailing almost 900,000 phoney invoices to businesses and non profit organizations in Canada.
- In May 2004, as the result of a Competition Bureau investigation into 1473253 Ontario Incorporated, operating as Yellowbusiness.ca, James Tetaka was sentenced and fined for sending out phoney invoice mailings.
- In July 2004, Mr. Daniel Klemann and 1480455 Ontario Incorporated, operating as Internet Registry of Canada (IROC) was sentenced to a $40,000 fine and a five-year prohibition order for deceptive Internet domain name renewal mailouts that targeted 73,000 businesses and non-profit organizations across Canada.
- In 2006, reports appeared from New Zealand that Blair Rafferty had resurrected his bankrupt brother Chesley's domain name service, domain slamming New Zealand and Australian registrants.
- In 2007 a company known as "Domain Renewal SA" operating from Brussels was sending out emails that told you that you need to renew your domain.
- In 2007, it was reported that a company under the name of Liberty Names of America (or Liberty names of America Inc., also referred to as "Lnoa Inc." or "Lnoa.com") too has been sending out "Domain Name Expiration Notices", which one experts said is "not exactly domain name slamming. But it is sleazy marketing."
- In 2008 ICANNICANNThe Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
said: "we are aware of accredited registrars in North America with officers that have been convicted of mail fraud, that continue to be associated with the deceptive marketing practices employed by the Domain Registry of America. We do not consider this an acceptable situation. Accreditation processes must be reviewed, and that review must be released for public scrutiny".
- In 2009, ASAASA- Organizations :* Acoustical Society of America* Advertising Standards Authority * African Studies Association* Aid to Southeast Asia, a non-governmental organization* Airline Superintendents Association of Trinidad & Tobago...
released an adjudicationAdjudicationAdjudication is the legal process by which an arbiter or judge reviews evidence and argumentation including legal reasoning set forth by opposing parties or litigants to come to a decision which determines rights and obligations between the parties involved....
on Domain Registry of America t/a Domain Renewal Group.
- As of 2010, this company mailing as DROA, French Internet Registry, Domain Renewal Group or Company Directory, is doing so in order to achieve domain slamming. McAfeeMcAfeeMcAfee, Inc. is a computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. It markets software and services to home users, businesses and the public sector. On August 19, 2010, electronics company Intel agreed to purchase McAfee for $7.68 billion...
Labs also reports that the domain slamming solicitations continue.
- Registrar Brandon Gray Internet Services Inc. had its licence with the authority responsible for Canada's .ca.ca.ca is the Internet country code top-level domain for Canada. The domain name registry that operates it is the Canadian Internet Registration Authority . Registrants of .ca domains must meet the Canadian Presence Requirements as defined by the registry...
domain names, Canadian Internet Registration AuthorityCanadian Internet Registration AuthorityThe Canadian Internet Registration Authority is the organization that manages the .CA country code top-level domain, the policies that support Canada’s Internet community and Canada’s involvement in international Internet governance. CIRA is a member-driven organization...
(CIRA) terminated Sept. 2010, as a result of domain slamming carried out under the name of Domain Registry of Canada. The officer registered with the Ontario government for Brandon Gray Internet Services is Marilyn Benlolo.
See also
- CopyfraudCopyfraudCopyfraud is a term used by Jason Mazzone, an Associate Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, to describe the use of false claims of copyright to attempt to control works not under one's legal control.-Introduction:Mazzone describes copyfraud as:...
- List of confidence tricks: Online scams
- Scams in intellectual propertyScams in intellectual propertyScams in intellectual property or invention scams are a type of scam in which either inventors are lured to pay money for developing an idea but do not follow up on it, or investors pay money for a non existing product or for an invention never to be developed....
- Telephone slammingTelephone slammingTelephone slamming is an illegal telecommunications practice, in which a subscriber's telephone service is changed without their consent. Slamming became a more visible issue after the deregulation of the telecommunications industry in the mid-1980s, especially after several brutal price wars...
- Transfer secretTransfer secretTransfer secret is a domain transfer secret , a key or code granted by all the domain name registrars for various gTLDs and possibly some ccTLDs, including .com and .net domains. Whether a ccTLD needs a code is generally up to the ccTLD's national authority...