Mass mail out by Domains Australia Pty Ltd
http://www.auda.org.au/news-archive/auda-03032005/
03/03/2005
auDA has become aware that Domains Australia Pty Ltd is sending letters and/or faxes to some domain name registrants offering to arrange registration of a .com domain name for $225.
The letter is headed ‘DOMAIN NAME AVAILABLE’. auDA has received numerous complaints which indicate that some of the names being offered are either;
1. registered already to the recipient of the letter and not due to expire in the near future or
2. registered to a different entity and not available for registration.
auDA is concerned that the letters may
a) mislead people into believing that their .com domain name has expired when it has not; or
b) mislead people into believing that a .com name is available for registration when it is not; and
c) in either case induce people to pay money to Domains Australia for a service that the company is unable to deliver.
Domains Australiais a company controlled by Chesley Rafferty, who is also a Director of Domain Names Australia Pty Ltd.
auDA has successfully taken legal action against Mr Rafferty and Domain Names Australia under the Trade Practices Act. For more information see http://www.auda.org.au/news/dna.
If you have received a .com letter from Domains Australia and you wish to lodge a formal complaint, auDA advises that you immediately contact the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) either by lodging an electronic complaint at http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/3634 or by faxing it to their Canberra office on (02) 6243 1199.
auDA warns registrants of new domain scam (ZDNet)
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/0,2000061791,39183162,00.htm
Warnings over new domain offer (Australian IT)
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,12431555%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
” …
AUSTRALIAN .au domain controller auDA has posted a new warning about potentially misleading letters and faxes touting domain name services in what appears to be a re-run of the 2003 Domain Names Australia case.
auDA said it had received complaints from individuals that had received letters from reseller Domains Australia Pty Ltd offering .com domains for two years for $225.
In a warning notice posted online, auDA said complaints were centred around the fact that the .com domains being offered were “registered already to the recipient of the letter and not due to expire in the near future or registered to a different entity and not available for registration”.
A similar practice lead in 2004 to the Federal Court finding Domain Names Australia Pty Ltd and sole director Chesley Paul Rafferty in breach of the Trade Practices Act, 1974.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission filings show 35 year old Mr Rafferty is also sole director of Perth-based Domains Australia Pty Ltd, which was registered in October.
Australian IT has learned that Mr Rafferty has been charged by WA Police with two counts of possession of a prohibited drug and one count of possession of a prohibited drug with intent to sell.
Mr Rafferty will face court over the drugs charges later this month.
auDA chief executive Chris Disspain said that because the new offer from Domains Australia involved .com addresses, the matter was beyond auDA’s jurisdiction.
The organisation was recommending complaints be directed to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Mr Disspain said.
The ACCC declined to comment on whether it had received complaints on the .com domain offers, with a spokesman saying that the Commission could not comment on matters that may be the subject of complaints or investigation.
In dismissing a 2004 appeal by Domain Names Australia, Justice Finkelstein ordered that the company and Mr Rafferty refrain from engaging in similar conduct for three years.
… “
