domainwatch.org

Mass mail out by Domains Australia Pty Ltd
http://www.auda.org.au/consumeralert/consumeralert-16082006/

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Mass mail out by Domains Australia Pty Ltd

16/Aug/2006

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 the net.au equivalent of the registrants com.au domain name for $225.

The letter is headed ‘DOMAIN NAME AVAILABLE’ and some versions of it offer a free MP3 player with each registration.

auDA has received numerous complaints which indicate that;

1. despite the net.au name being paid for, it is NOT being registered and
2. registrants are NOT receiving the ‘free’ MP3 player.

Based on the complaints received auDA is concerned that the letters may mislead people into believing that they are renewing their existing com.au domain name when in fact they are purchasing a new net.au name.

Further, consumers should be aware that $225 for a net.au domain name is significantly higher than prices charged by auDA accredited registrars and their resellers.
Domains Australia Pty Ltd is a company controlled by Blair Rafferty, the brother of Chesley Rafferty. It is NOT an auDA accredited registrar nor is it a reseller of an auDA accredited registrar.

auDA has previously successfully taken legal action against Chesley Rafferty and companies controlled by him under the Trade Practices Act.

If you have paid Domains Australia Pty Ltd and the domain name has not been registered or you have not received the ‘free’ MP3 player 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/ or by faxing it to their Canberra office on (02) 6243 1199. Alternatively you may wish to contact your State based fair trading or consumer affairs office.

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auDA in new domain stoush
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,20150135%5E15317%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

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auDA in new domain stoush
Andrew Colley
AUGUST 16, 2006

AUSTRALIA’S peak internet name authority auDA has marched into another regulatory stoush with another business linked to bankrupt former domain registrar operator Chesley Rafferty.

AuDA took legal action against Domain Names Australia a company directed by Mr Rafferty’s in the Federal Court in 2003 for breaches of trade practice laws.

The domain regulator today issued a warning concerning promotional material distributed by a company run by Mr Rafferty’s brother, Blair.

It said that the company, Domains Australia, was an unaccredited registrar and that it had received numerous complaints about the company’s activities.

Domains Australia had offered .com.au domain owners a free MP3 player for registering the .net.au version of their domain name, auDA said.

However, auDA said that some Domain Australia customers had not received registration services or the MP3 player despite having paid $225 for the service.

Chris Disspain, chief executive of auDA said the matter should be handled by consumer protection agencies but revealed that the regulator was seeking its own legal advice.

The domain regulator also expressed concerns over the wording of the letters which bear the title “DOMAIN NAME AVAILABLE”.

“Based on the complaints received auDA is concerned that the letters may mislead people into believing that they are renewing their existing com.au domain name when in fact they are purchasing a new net.au name,” auDA said.

AuDA issued similar warnings concerning Domain Names Australia’s advertising practices three years ago.

At the time auDA said that DNA had sent to domain owners letters warning them that their .au names were unavailable or unregistered and that they could easily be mistaken for invoices.

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Domain name reminder - ACCC
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/758612/fromItemId/142

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Domain name reminder

They are also the subject of perennial complaints to the ACCC.

To avoid making unnecessary payments, or in the extreme being scammed, business administration staff are reminded to read domain name renewal letters carefully. The letter you have received may be an offer for a new domain name.

If you receive such letters the following tips may help:

* Check the details of your current domain name
* Know who your current domain name registrar is
* Note the renewal date for your domain name

For more information on domain name issues see the ACCC’s fact sheet Domain name renewal/registrations—don’t get caught.
Related Internet links

* Domain name renewal/registrations—don’t get caught

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NZ Domain Registration Ltd
http://www.dnc.org.nz/story/30259-29-1.html

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NZ Domain Registration Ltd
Published at 3:50pm, 7th August 2006

The Domain Name Commissioner is aware of a mass mail out by an entity “NZ Domain Registration Ltd”.

NZ Domain Registration Ltd appears to be sending pro forma letters to registrants seeking fees for the registration of .net.nz names.

The letters to registrants specify a .net.nz domain name to be registered.

Authorised .nz domain name registrars are not permitted to specify a particular domain name in an offer of registry services. NZ Domain Registration Ltd is not an authorised .nz registrar.

The letters are also in a printed form that looks similar to an invoice or a renewal notice. This may cause confusion.

Registrants who have recently received what appears to be an invoice or a renewal notice for their domain name are strongly advised to look carefully at all details before paying any sum requested.

Registrants are strongly advised to be cautious before proceeding with any registration offered in a letter from NZ Domain Registration Ltd.

Registrants are also reminded that they are under no obligation to proceed with the registration and that doing nothing will not affect their current domain name registrations.

The DNC is monitoring the situation and will investigate any possible breaches of .nz policy. If people have concerns about the actions of NZ Domain Registration Ltd please email info@dnc.org.nz.
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Rafferty carries on domain slamming
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/juha/1021

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It’s another Rafferty this time though: Blair, who is the brother of Chesley.

Blair’s been mailing .nz registrants in large numbers with these letters:

Which the New Zealand Domain Name Commissioner says looks like invoices or a domain renewal notices, complete with payment slips at the bottom. An MP3 player is held up as a carrot for potential registrants as well.

The people I spoke to for the Computerworld said that Rafferty’s company is asking money for a variant of their existing domain name - for example, if they have somedomain.co.nz, the letter mentions somedomain.net.nz. In other words, you wouldn’t be renewing your domain but registering another one.

Blair apparently took over Chesley’s directorships when the latter brother went bankrupt last year. In July this year, Chesley’s partner Brad Norrish also went bankrupt. Both men have million-dollar judgements against them in the Australian Federal Court.

Unfortunately, it looks like this kind of scamming is hard to stamp out. There are always some people who will fall for it, and at $225 a piece, it doesn’t take long before the scammer makes a return on his “investment”.

If you have a .nz domain and have received one of the above letters - DON’T PAY. Apart from anything, it’s a craptacular deal. Computerworld reader Patrick Baron wrote in and said he can get two years’ worth of .nz registration at Freeparking for $85.39. He also says a 128MB USB-stick MP3 player can be had for around $58, so the $225 Rafferty’s asking is a lousy deal.

I’d like to know how Rafferty can register new .nz domains though like this? The DNC needs to investigate this and de-authorise whoever it is that is helping out Rafferty.

By Juha Saarinen

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Rafferty brother continues domain slamming scam
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/0/869000D3A38C3BA7CC2571C3000317D8?OpenDocument

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Rafferty brother continues domain slamming scam
By Juha Saarinen, Auckland | Monday, 7 August, 2006

Blair Rafferty is believed to have resurrected his bankrupt brother Chesley’s domain name registration scam, targetting New Zealand and Australian registrants.

Domain name registrants in New Zealand are sent pro-forma invoices asking for $225 for a two-year period through NZ Domain Registration Ltd, with an office address given as 60 Cook Street, Auckland. The address is the same that Chesley Rafferty used in the past and leads to The Corporate Centre, which supplies serviced offices and telephone answering for customers.

Blair Rafferty is listed as the director of New Zealand Domain Registration Ltd, according to the Companies Office.

Clemenger Commmunications National IT Manager Jeremy Strachan says he received twenty such letters for various New Zealand domains. He says the domains are ones registered but not used by him, indicating that the information used by Rafferty is out of date.

Strachan showed Computerworld a copy of the letter, which promises a “free MP3 player” if people take the bait. Another .nz registrant, Patrick Baron, contacted Computerworldto say that he too has targetted by NZ Domain Registration Ltd. Baron says he is being offered the .net.nz version of his existing .co.nz domain for $225.00 including GST, and describes the attempt to as a “slightly more sophisticated mass-mailing attack” than previous such runs.

Chesley Rafferty sent out hundreds of thousands of invoices similar to the ones making the rounds now, was found guilty by Australia’s Federal court in 2004 of false and misleading conduct under the country’s Trade Practices Act.

In 2005, Chesley Rafferty and his business partner Brad Norrish had A$1.3 million damages awarded against them, after the Federal Court found the pair had copied UK domain registrar Nominet’s database of customers. Rafferty went bankrupt last year, and Norrish in July this year.

However, Blair Rafferty has since then taken over as director of his brother’s companies, according to Australian official records.

Computerworld rang the number given for New Zealand Domain Registration Ltd to speak to Blair Rafferty but the call was answered by a voice mail recorder. Our call was not returned.

New Zealand Domain Name Commissioner Debbie Monahan says her office is aware of Rafferty’s mailout, and is working with the Commerce Commission on the case. Monahan says the format of the letters is somewhat different to the last time the slamming scam made the rounds in New Zealand, but adds that the letters still give the impression that they are invoices or renewal notices for domains.

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from: whois.publicdomainregistry.com

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Owner (Registrant Contact)

Name: Domain Manager
Company: NZ Domain Registration Ltd
Address:

Level 3
60 Cook St

City: Auckland
State: Auckland
Country: NZ
Zip: 1010
Tel No: 064 93531790
Fax No:
Email: info@nzdomainregistation.com

Administrative Contact

Name: Domain Manager
Company: NZ Domain Registration Ltd
Address:

Level 3
60 Cook St

City: Auckland
State: Auckland
Country: NZ
Zip: 1010
Tel No: 064 93531790
Fax No:
Email: info@nzdomainregistation.com

Technical Contact

Name: Domain Manager
Company: NZ Domain Registration Ltd
Address:

Level 3
60 Cook St

City: Auckland
State: Auckland
Country: NZ
Zip: 1010
Tel No: 064 93531790
Fax No:
Email: info@nzdomainregistation.com

Nameserver Details

NameServer: ns1-sullivan.nswebhost.com
NameServer: ns2-sullivan.nswebhost.com

Record Details

Creation Date: Jul 10 2006
Expiration Date: Jul 10 2007

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Regarding Chesley Rafferty’s claim in the newspaper article below that I am “obsessive compulsive” about his operations, I have the following statement to make:

It is the type of behaviour that is of interest not the personalities. I have been consistent with my approach to this kind of behaviour long before Chesley Rafferty and Bradley Norrish arrived on the scene (see the domainwatch.org and dotau.org archives). It is also my belief that past behaviour is usually the best predictor of future behaviour.

As long as domain registrants believe they are being misled and deceived then I will continue to watch those companies and people responsible.

Here are three examples:

Example 1:

November 26, 2001
Aust domain name resellers brace for bloodbath
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/Aust_domain_name_resellers_brace_for_bloodbath/0,39023166,20262049,00.htm

Mark Spektor (Internet Name Group) asserted ” … Rowe has been conducting a smear campaign against us for sometime and has refused to desist … ”

July 11, 2006
Domain name entrepreneur declared bankrupt
http://www.theage.com.au/news/biztech/domain-name-entrepreneur-declared-bankrupt/2006/07/10/1152383674987.html?page=fullpage

” … Mr Rafferty accuses Mr Rowe of being “obsessive compulsive” about his operations … ”

Example 2:

Blair Rafferty’s DomainName.com.au Pty Ltd, which ” … (Chesley) Rafferty says he has nothing to with the operation of … “, is the latest addition to the watch list.

Example 3:

Here are some of the companies and people reported on domainwatch.org - does Chesley Rafferty’s quote in today’s Age infer that they all relate to him?

Blair Rafferty
Bradley Norrish
Chesley Rafferty
ComAURegister
Craig Oehlers
Diverse Internet
Domain Name Authority of Australia
Domain Names Australia
Domain Names NZ
Domain Services
DomainName.com.au
Domains Australia
Ezinames
Federal Bureau of Domain Names
IMCO Corporation
Internet Name Group
Internet Registrations Australia
Internet Registrations Worldwide
Internet Registry
iRegistrations
NetRegister
Paul Fox
Peter Jacobs
ProWeb Solutions
Registry Group
UK Internet Registry

Domain name entrepreneur declared bankrupt
http://www.theage.com.au/news/biztech/domain-name-entrepreneur-declared-bankrupt/2006/07/10/1152383674987.html?page=fullpage

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Domain name entrepreneur declared bankrupt
Nick Miller
July 11, 2006
Next

CONTROVERSIAL internet domain name entrepreneur Brad Norrish has been declared bankrupt, but the brother of his former business partner is still selling domain names.

Domainwatch.org, a self-appointed watchdog of Mr Norrish’s operations has warned businesses to keep a keen eye out for domain name marketing spam that closly resembles an invoice.

Mr Norrish, 27, from Western Australia, was declared bankrupt last Monday, which he says will “bring varying levels of happiness to those involved in selling domains”.

Mr Norrish signed off an email to an industry listgroup with the promise, “if the game’s still worth playing in 3 years time I might just get a recall . . . with fresh legs”.

“The game” is the lucrative business of marketing domain name registrations. But Mr Norrish and his business partner, Chesley Rafferty, have been warned by the umpire that they play outside the rules.

Last year the Federal Court awarded $1.3 million damages for breach of copyright against Mr Norrish and Mr Rafferty. The court found they had used data mining search techniques to copy a British domain name registrar’s database of customers.

They then sent 50,000 “invoices” to those customers telling them their domain was up for renewal, a practice known as “domain slamming”.

Lesley Cowley, CEO of Nominet, says: “The bankruptcy brings an appropriate and successful end to the litigation against (Norrish and Rafferty).”

Mr Norrish says the bankruptcy “takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders”.

“It’s the end to a long and pitiful legal dispute,” he says.

He says he is still friends, but not a business partner, with Mr Rafferty.

In 2004, the Federal Court found Mr Rafferty and his company, Domain Names Australia (DNA), guilty of false and misleading conduct under the Trade Practices Act for a similar operation: mailing hundreds of thousands of notices that looked like invoices for renewal of a domain name.

If filled in and returned, the notices registered a new domain name through Mr Rafferty’s company.

The court instructed Mr Rafferty to let his customers know of the deception.

When contacted by Next, Mr Rafferty said there had been “a lot of hype” about his marketing style. DNA continued to operate after the Federal Court action, changing the notices to comply with the court’s ruling, he says.

DNA has since been wound up. Mr Rafferty says that since his bankruptcy late last year he has not been doing “anything” - apart from some consulting work - in the area of domain name marketing.

However, ASIC records reveal that Mr Rafferty’s younger brother, Blair, took over Chesley Rafferty’s roles as director of the companies Domains Australia, Domainname.com.au and Firebird Corporation.

Domainname.com.au, based in Melbourne but registered in WA, offers domain registration and website hosting.

According to the Domainwatch.org website, customers are complaining about marketing material that Domainname.com.au sends out offering domain name registration. One customer says the material gives the false impression of being invoices renewing an existing domain.

Domainwatch.org writer Josh Rowe says domain name registration is a difficult industry to police.

“Beware ‘invoices’ coming from companies you are not aware of, and always go back to check who you have registered a domain with,” Mr Rowe says.

However, Mr Rafferty accuses Mr Rowe of being “obsessive compulsive” about his operations.

“There’s a lot of people in the industry that got in trouble that he doesn’t seem to write about,” he says. “Where’s letters about (accused domain slammer) Domain Registry of America? They still mail into Australia . . . they would have made 10 times or more money than myself or Brad (Norrish).”

Mr Rafferty says he has nothing to to with the operation of his brother’s company, Domainname.com.au. Blair Rafferty could not be contacted by Next.

Mr Norrish says he is no longer marketing domain names.

“Domain names rate alongside roo shooting in terms of market size,” he says. “I would like to be in a market that there is more room to move in.”

Earlier this year he was accused of “cybersquatting” alternative versions of well-known corporations’ sites.

He attracted the ire of US sports TV channel ESPN by registering the domain name espn.com.au and was ordered to surrender ownership of the domain webjet.com.

However, Mr Norrish says the ESPN site was registered by an employee without his knowledge.

He says “in the past” he owned thousands of domain names because “the market was very cheap”, but the company that owned the names is in administration.

“I think domain name registration should be handled by a government department, along with business name registration and company registration,” he says.

“The ’self-regulated’ system at the moment really means that (domain register) auDA is controlled by popular vote of the majority of domain providers”.

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Oz domain name scammer declares bankruptcy
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/05/oz_domain_scam/

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Oz domain name scammer declares bankruptcy

Shown the pink card

By John Leyden
Published Wednesday 5th July 2006 12:34 GMT

Australian domain name scammer Bradley Norrish has declared himself bankrupt.

Bradley Norrish, along with business partner Chesley Rafferty, ran an outfit called UK Internet Registry, and three other firms, which sent 50,000 fake invoices to domain name holders in the UK during 2003. The information needed to mount the scam was obtained from a data mining attack on the .uk WHOIS database.

The scale of the attack was so severe that Nominet, the .uk internet domain name registry, was forced to suspend its WHOIS database, which allows people to check the registrants of domain names for nine hours to prevent further abuse.

Nominet linked the attack back to UK Internet Registry and sued the firm and its directors for breach of copyright and offences against Australian fair trade laws.

An Australian court upheld Nominet’s complaint, paving the way for it to sue for costs and damages. In January 2006, Nominet was awarded A$1.3m ($970K) in damages against Chesley Rafferty and Bradley Norrish for copyright infringement, as well as an additional A$500K ($373K) stipend to reflect the “flagrancy” of the breaches.

In a letter, published by Domainwatch, Norrish said although he’d been forced to declare himself broke because of legal judgments against him, he might yet return to the domain name business.

“I’m sure most of you on the domain list will be pleased to hear I am now declared officially bankrupt. This will undoubtedly bring varying levels of happiness to those involved in selling domains from those who raise a slight smile, to those who leap enthusiastically out of their chairs,” Norrish writes.

“It was officially at 4.50pm yesterday afternoon that the Pink Bankruptcy Card was raised to send me off the field for three years. So a big congratulations to the captain of the opposite team Nominet as well as all their supporters. If the game’s still worth playing in three years time I might just get a recall, and if I do you know it will be with fresh legs.”

Nominet said the rocky financial straits Norrish finds himself in are a just a consequence of his abuse of the WHOIS registry. Nominet chief executive Lesley Cowley commented: “The bankruptcy brings an appropriate and successful end to the litigation against the directors of UK Internet Registry and proves that data mining the WHOIS is a serious industry issue that Nominet will not tolerate.

“It has been a long, expensive and often challenging process, but we take protection of our intellectual property and copyright ownership very seriously. This case proves that we can and will detect, track down and sue for WHOIS infringement to protect our business and our .uk registrants from domain name scams,” she added.

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Internet scammer announces bankruptcy
http://www.nominet.org.uk/news/latest/?contentId=3106

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July 04 2006
Domainwatch.org today posted a letter from Australian domain name scammer, Bradley Norrish, announcing his declaration of bankruptcy.

http://domainwatch.org/archives/2006/07/04/bradley-norrish-bankrupt/

Lesley Cowley, CEO, Nominet, commented: “The bankruptcy brings an appropriate and successful end to the litigation against the directors of UK Internet Registry and proves that datamining the WHOIS is a serious industry issue that Nominet will not tolerate. It has been a long, expensive and often challenging process, but we take protection of our intellectual property and copyright ownership very seriously. This case proves that we can and will detect, track down and sue for WHOIS infringement to protect our business and our .uk registrants from domain name scams.”

This case was brought by Nominet against Chesley Rafferty and Bradley Norrish and 3 of their companies in the Federal Court of Australia following Nominet’s discovery in January 2003 that its WHOIS database had been the subject of concerted data mining attacks. This database is commonly used by Internet users to check who is the registrant of a domain name. The sheer scale of these assaults subsequently forced Nominet to suspend its WHOIS system for the only time in its six year history. The attacks captured details of many .uk domain name holders and resulted in 50,000 registrants receiving misleading notices from “UK Internet Registry” regarding their domain name registrations.

In January 2006, Nominet was awarded AUD $1.3 million in damages to conclude the battle against Chesley Rafferty and Bradley Norrish. The Court awarded actual damages for copyright infringement, underlining the value of Nominet’s .uk Register and copyright ownership of its databases, as well as additional damages to reflect the “flagrancy” of the breaches, in using Nominet’s records for direct marketing purposes. The award of AUD $500,000 for the misuse of the data is one of the highest additional damages awards ever made by the Australian Courts.

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