Banned registrar attracts fresh wave of warnings

By ADAM GIFFORD

With the persistence of a Nigerian con-man, Melbourne internet registrar Internet Name Group is again deluging New Zealand domain name holders with offers to register alternate names at inflated prices.

Internet Name Group was banned from selling .nz addresses last September after a similar bulk mailing to more than 100,000 name holders.

"They are still banned because they would not comply to our conditions, which include not doing mail-outs of this sort," said Derek Locke, chief executive of New Zealand internet name registry Domainz.

"Our advice to people who receive these letters is to rip them up and throw them away."

He said Domainz was investigating how the company intended to register .nz names.

Internet Name Group is also in trouble across the Tasman, where the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will tomorrow seek a permanent injunction against the company and director Mark Spektor for misleading conduct.

The ACCC alleges that since about July 2000, Internet Name Group has made false or misleading representations regarding registration and renewal of internet domain names.

It is also seeking costs and refunds for affected businesses.

For its latest mail-out, the company, calling itself Internet Name Protection Pty, appears to have compared the database of owners of .co.nz addresses against the .net.nz list.

It then sent "registration advice" - in a form which at first glance could be taken as an invoice - that the .net address is currently unregistered.

"As an existing .co.nz domain name licence holder, please be aware if you do not register the above domain name, then it could be registered by any other applicant," the letter said.

Registering the domain costs $125 a year, credit card payments only.

In contrast, New Zealand registry Freeparking.co.nz sells domain names for $39.95 plus GST. Xtra sells them for a $35 set-up fee and $7 a month.

The letter lists several prominent New Zealand companies it claims have registered or renewed domain names with Internet Name Protection.

New Zealand Road Transport Association general manager Brian Priest said he did not know how his organisation's name got on the list.

"We only have one website and we register it through Xtra," Priest said.

Spektor was not available for comment.