domainwatch.org

The 500,000 allegedly misleading advertisements by Domain Names Australia Pty Ltd (Chesley Rafferty) was the biggest issue in the domain name market to affect consumers in 2003 according to auDA CEO Chris Disspain - ZDNet news article.

” …
The affair is now at the centre of a Federal Court action being spearheaded by the ACCC. The mail-out yielded 9,000 registrations at AU$237, a figure significantly higher than the average domain name registration fee of AU$85. In total the mail-out resulted in AU$2.3 million in registrations with DNA.
… “

I’m not an accountant, however here’s my best guess on Chesley Rafferty’s (Domain Names Australia Pty Ltd) books:

$2,133,000 : 9,000 net.au domains sold by DNA @ $237 each
($ 540,000) : 9,000 net.au domains cost @ $60 each from Explorer*
($ 300,000) : estimated legal fees for auDA + ACCC vs DNA court case
($ 400,000) : estimated cost of 500,000 allegedly misleading advertisements
============
$ 893,000 : Chesley Rafferty’s (Domain Names Australia) estimated profit

* Based on Explorer reseller price (http://whatsinaname.com.au/)

Also of interest are the types of e-commerce complaints received by the ACCC. They are listed in the review discussion paper of the Australian E-commerce Best Practice Model (http://ecommerce.treasury.gov.au/bpmreview/content/_download/BPM_Review.pdf).

” …
Table 1: Types of e-commerce complaints received by the ACCC
(30 June 02 - 30 June 03))

Issues or conduct - Percentage of complaints

Misleading advertising or prices - 23
Domain name renewals - 20
Pyramid selling and other scams - 7
Unsolicited goods or services - 4
Warranty matters - 4
Anti-competitive arrangements - 2
Unconscionable conduct - 1

Source: Based on data supplied by the ACCC.
…”

” …
ACCC also show that sixteen online traders accounted for nearly half of all online-related complaints received by the Commission during this period. These traders generated consumer complaints concerning: domain name renewal; dissatisfaction with Internet broadband/ADSL services; [etc]
… “

Some one on the NeuStar Policy Forum mailing list is still not very happy with Bradley Norrish’s large collection of .us domain names.

from: http://lists.neustar.biz/pipermail/policy-forum/2003-August/000077.html

” …
Mr. Norrish lists a Nexus 21 code. What U.S. state, possession, or district is
IRWW incorporated in?
… “

from: http://lists.neustar.biz/pipermail/policy-forum/2003-November/000082.html

” …
Neustar promised to take action against an offender, an Australian company with nearly 2,000 domains they’re holding for resale. They allowed the offender to simply change the “inaccurate information” in their application to appear to comply with Nexus requirements. The argument offered by Neustar is that the people in question had a company incorporated in the U.S. which was qualified at the time of the registration. They were just stupid and didn’t follow directions. Now that’s all been cleaned up and everything is fine. Wrong.

The domain I was originally seeking was pointed to a holding page, then to a domain services company in Australia, and now to… nothing. But I bet it’s still for sale for $1500, which is what they demanded from me. When you figure they pay $6-$10 a domain. Buy 2,000 domains at $6 each for $12,000. Sell 10 at $1500 each, you’re ahead. Sell 100 @$1500, you’re way ahead. That’s profiteering at our expense.

The first problem with this position is that Neustar’s and/or eNom’s systems should have flagged these applications and never accepted them in the first place.
… “

from: http://lists.neustar.biz/pipermail/policy-forum/2003-December/000089.html

” …
Now, if you could only keep the unqualified sleazoid foreign registrants and the spammers from bowdlerizing the .US domain family and ruining its potential, you might be able to sum up the year as a failure, rather than an abject, sorry, dog-assed failure.

Congratulations. Oh, and happy holidays.

I see that .US domains are being fire-saled at $4.95. I wonder if the good people at IRWW still want $1500 for the .US domain I was after?
… “

from: www.asic.gov.au

” …
Name INTERNET REGISTRATIONS WORLDWIDE PTY LTD
ACN 100 341 544
ABN 60 100 341 544

Type Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares
Registration Date 24/04/2002
Next Review Date 24/04/2004
Status Registered
Locality of Registered Office Perth WA 6000
… “

from: whois.ausregistry.com.au

Domain Name: irww.com.au
Last Modified: 31-May-2003 02:59:15 UTC
Registrar ID: R00012-AR
Registrar Name: TPP Internet
Status: ok

Registrant: Internet Registrations Worldwide Pty Ltd
Registrant ID: OTHER 100 341 544

Registrant ROID: C1203728-AR
Registrant Contact Name: Brad Norrish
Registrant Email: brad@brad.com.au

Tech ID: C1203729-AR
Tech Name: Brad Norrish
Tech Email: brad@brad.com.au

Name Server: ns1.registrations.com.au
Name Server IP: 66.78.1.51
Name Server: ns2.registrations.com.au
Name Server IP: 66.78.1.52

from: whois.enom.com

Registration Service Provided By: Internet Registrations Worldwide
Contact: info@irww.com
Visit: http://www.irww.com

Domain name: irww.com

Name servers:
NS1.IRWW.COM
NS2.IRWW.COM

Creation date: 02/12/2002 07:04:57
Expiration date: 02/12/2004 07:04:57

Registrant Contact:
Internet Registrations Worldwide
Peter Jacobs (info@irww.com)
+61.892257278
FAX: +61.892257276
Level 2
297 Hay St
East Perth, WA 6004
AU

Administrative Contact:
Internet Registrations Worldwide
Peter Jacobs (info@irww.com)
+61.892257278
FAX: +61.892257276
Level 2
297 Hay St
East Perth, WA 6004
AU

Billing Contact:
Internet Registrations Worldwide
Peter Jacobs (info@irww.com)
+61.892257278
FAX: +61.892257276
Level 2
297 Hay St
East Perth, WA 6004
AU

Technical Contact:
Internet Registrations Worldwide
Peter Jacobs (info@irww.com)
+61.892257278
FAX: +61.892257276
Level 2
297 Hay St
East Perth, WA 6004
AU