Re: [gnso-rap-dt] "slamming" and law enforcement

[martinsutton@xxxxxxxx]

I can't help thinking we are breaking into new ground but that we should expect 
this given the short life of the Internet. 

With regards to any meaningful law enforcement, we should not anticipate this 
in any jurisdiction I am aware of!  This is a minor, if not completely ignored, 
event due to the low value of cost/risk per individual incident. Nice to think 
that collectively there could be a case on a collective basis but who, how, why 
comes into question. 

Agreed, the practices we refer to here are pre-registration but there is little 
or no effort emphasized for the prevention of these tactics. Only recourse if 
the rights holder chooses to pursue. Legislation is not consistent and cross 
jurisdiction creates an immediate obstacle.

I would like to emphasize the fact that renewal notices and 'slamming' alike 
have never been treated as a problem because there is no interest to identify 
the issues by contracted parties or to be dealt with in a consistent and 
forceful manner globally.  We need facts to show the scale and scope if the 
problem, including players from the ICANN accredited community. Moreso, Mikey 
raised some pertinent points with regards to the chain of contracts which 
should be explored further. 

So, I would be happy for the RAPWG to put the stake in the ground, along the 
lines of more research required. 

Kind regards,

Martin
 
Martin Sutton
Manager, Group Fraud Risk and Intelligence
Ph:  ++44 (0)20 7991 8074
Mob:  ++44 (0)777 4556680
Sent from my BlackBerry

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----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Aaron" [gaaron@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: 19/04/2010 12:54 AST
To: <gnso-rap-dt@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [gnso-rap-dt] "slamming" and law enforcement



There has been a lot of action against entities doing fake renewal notices
and related deceptive practices.  This is not a new issue, and has been
handled by law enforcement and court cases over the years. 

 

I'm thinking that "pre-registration" solicitations are outside of scope for
ICANN do deal with - it's an issue of trade practices and sometimes fraud,
and a name has not yet been registered.

 

A few cases are..

 

In 2003, the Domain Registry of America
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Registry_of_America>  were ordered by
the Federal Trade Commission
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Trade_Commission>  not to make
misrepresentations after telling consumers that their domain registrations
were expiring, leading many consumers to switch their domain name registrar.

 

In 2004, the UK Advertising Watchdog Authority (ASA) slammed Domain Registry
of Europe over similar mailings.

 

"As early as 2001, the Canadian Competition Bureau issued a warning to
Canadian businesses to take caution before paying what appeared to be
invoices.. And last year, a federal judge in New York ordered
<http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/print.php/_1562291>  Domain Registry of
America to stop telling Register.com customers that the two companies were
affiliated in an attempt to get their business." 

 [
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/08/06/legal_action_threatened_against_doma
in/ ]

 

New Zealand Domain Registration Ltd,  was found guilty by Australia's
Federal court in 2004 of false and misleading conduct under the country's
Trade Practices Act.  (A$1.3 million damages awarded against them, after the
Federal Court found the parties responsible had copied UK domain registrar
Nominet's database of customers. )

http://pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/pcw.nsf/feature/0B56ACE3E2A579C7CC2571C30007FDE
7 

 

 

 

**********************************

Greg Aaron

Director, Key Account Management and Domain Security

Afilias

vox: +1.215.706.5700

fax: 1.215.706.5701

gaaron@xxxxxxxxxxxx 

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