Domain Names NZ promises refund

By ADAM GIFFORD

The Australian who mass-mailed New Zealand internet domain name owners inviting them to sign up for an over-priced and probably unnecessary extra domain says he will give refunds to those who feel unhappy.

The Commerce Commission has issued a warning about the letters from Domain Names NZ, which seeks payment of $237 to register the .net.nz version of existing .co.nz address.

"The commission is concerned that current registrants of .co.nz may be being misled into thinking they are paying to re-register their current domain name," said fair trading director Deborah Battell.

But Domain Names NZ head Chesley Rafferty is all injured innocence.

"I have done nothing wrong but I have upset people in the industry because I have gone out to make an honest dollar in a proactive fashion," Rafferty said.

"We are letting people know the .net.nz address is available. There are tens of thousands of .nz registrants who I think should be informed of that."

The .net domain is mainly intended for internet service providers and similar internet-related businesses, but Rafferty said many companies such as Microsoft registered their name in every domain to protect their corporate image.

He denied the letter was made to look like an invoice.

"The information is at the top, there is a payment slip at the bottom. Everyone knows that is an offer.

"If people say they have been confused by it, they can ring the number on the letter and ask for a refund or I will bin the cheque - as long as I haven't already gone ahead and registered the name for them," he said.

But the only people who may want to take Rafferty up on his offer are those who paid online.

The mail address on the letter was not to his Perth base but ServCorp's Auckland serviced office.

ServCorp New Zealand manager Bridget Fairweather said she cancelled Rafferty's contract for "virtual office" services last month when she became aware of the sort of business he was running, and all mail was now being returned to sender with a covering note.

Rafferty refused to answer questions such as how many forms he had mailed out or where he had sourced addresses from because he said that information was "commercially sensitive".

Rafferty made similar mail-outs last year, under the name Internet Registry.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and auDA (.au Domain Administration), which manages the .au domains, is investigating whether a July mail-out by another Rafferty trading entity, Domain Names Australia, breached undertakings made to settle a case before the Federal court.

"[AuDA chief executive] Chris Disspain and I don't have the best working relationship, but the only thing the memorandum states is I am not to be in breach of auDA policy. New Zealand is nothing to do with the auDA."

New Zealand domain name commissioner Debbie Monaghan said she was still investigating how Rafferty got addresses for his mail-out.

People who feel they were duped into paying money are being advised to lay a complaint with the Commerce Commission.