APPEAL FOR HELP OVER $500000 TO $1000000 TAKEN UNDER FALSE PRETENCES?Dear Sir
Further
to my appeal for help concerning the Afilias Board member and the fraudulent claim
for HAWAII.info, I am writing for your time and help - if you would be so kind -
concerning my more general complaints about Afilias. Thousands of honest customers
paid probably in excess of $1million for applications for .info names in the Landrush
phase of the Afilias roll-out. However, the names they had paid for the chance to
obtain, were hi-jacked during the "Trademark-protection" Sunrise phase by frauds
who got the registrations by submitting phoney Trademark numbers (or even NO details
at all - there was no scrutiny).
Worse still, Afilias and its friendly registrars
seemed to be complicit in this fraud (in my opinion, and the opinion of many others).
So
what is the charge against Afilias?
Thousands of their customers (and customers
of their accredited registrars) were persuaded to part with money for a product which
never materialised.
Afilias set up a system which did not check in advance for
fraud, and therefore "left the door open" for deception.
As a result over 10000
names were illegally claimed.
Processes existed and were widely circulated, which
would have protected the interests of Landrush customers and honest Trademark claimants.
But Afilias declined to implement them - preferring to prevent Landrush customers
access to the names they'd paid to pre-register for, and "sell" the names all over
again next year.
Then it emerged that over 50% of these fraudulent claims had
been executed by the companies of Afilias Board members and executives. Even the
company of the Afilias CEO was caught out, abusing Afilias's own system by submitting
completely false applications.
Compounding this offence, it then emerged that
these "Afilias Board Companies" had accepted over $500,000 to carry out the abuse
of their own system.
The scandal was made worse when the original false claimants
(Lorenz and Plankenstein among others) publicly admitted the applications were ineligible
or had false details (in Lorenz's case, NO details!!). Lorenz asked 18 times for
these names to be released for Landrush customers. It was inexplicable that Afilias
would not just delete the names (as the Landrush had not yet taken place). By consciously
refusing to do so, they "disentitled" Landrush customers who had been completely
defrauded.
These actions were : frauds which defrauded people of products they
had bought - namely, the chance to win a domain name.
Afilias had the contractual
right to delete over 50% of fake Sunrise registrations (registrations which should
never have gone ahead anyway, but which profited Board members' companies by over
half a million dollars) and yet chose not to.
Instead, they have created the opportunity
to "re-sell" these names at a second Landrush, for the further profit of their companies.
While all this was going on, there were other violations being perpetrated by
Afilias members...
A further Board member was caught submitting (through her company
at least - if not her in person!) deliberately faked Trademark information to claim
Hawaii.info and Maui.info. Trademark number 444455555 does not exist for this name,
but Afilias still went ahead and registered it for Board Member Govinda Leopold's
registrar company. Even when this became public knowledge, they refused to delete
the names and release them for Landrush applicants.
Other instances of bad business
practice included the Afilias CEO Lubsen's company, Domain Bank, who continued to
take money selling pre-registrations after names had already been registered by Afilias
in the Sunrise phase. Lubsen's registrar site reported these names as "available"
but they were not.
Afilias also granted "reserved" status to Registrars for certain
names which they may not have the right to. On what grounds did Signature Domains
have the right to "reserve" NUDES.info ahead of the rest of the Internet community.
In addition, registrars were not permitted to apply for names, and yet Afilias
went ahead and registered over 500 names for friendly registrars, many if not most
of which need checking for suspect TM details of their highly-prized generic names
: the very names many registrars had charged honest customers to pre-register for.
THE PRIMARY CHARGE remains the fact that Afilias Board members - through their
companies - took $500,000 to execute frauds which abused and broke the rules of their
own system. Then, as Afilias, they registered these names (resulting in the defrauding
of thousands of honest customers). And when the original fraudsters admitted the
details were faked or requested (18 times!) that they be released to the public...
it was Afilias, not the original fraudsters, who declined to let Landrush custoners
have them back, thereby creating the opportunity for Afilias and registrars to "sell
them a second time".
SURELY.... there is a lawyer somewhere in America or Ireland
who can confront this company, when the actions are as blatant as this?
I encourage
you to copy and e-mail this forum posting to every lawyer you can find. Just let
them read what has happened. Then let them dig deeper and they will be stunned by
everything else they will find. These whole event has been very clearly recorded
from day to day.
I believe this is a gift package for any lawyer, on a plate,
with the chance to enhance their reputations.
People have been defrauded in various
ways. The complainants exist and are willing to testify.
The actions of this company
speak for themselves. They are as blatant and as clear as day.
But when fair and
reasonable points are raised, they decline to answer the questions, or else they
pretend it's all nonsense.
Which is what they did a few weeks ago, when their
own Director Robert Connelly announced he wanted to resign all his interests and
cut off his business connections, because of the unjust treatment of Landrush pre-registrants,
and what he called the "abomination" of the Sunrise debacle.
He resigned because
he was a man of honor.
I believe we, who have been defrauded, are looking for
a legal man or woman of honor right now.
Please stand up for what is right.
Rachel
MacGregor