Domain name wholesaler BulkRegister.com is taking legal action
against VeriSign, alleging that the company engaged in unfair
marketing practices in an attempt to trick users into switching
domain name services.
The lawsuit claims that VeriSign began sending out "expiration
notices" last month as part of a marketing campaign that encouraged
recipients to renew their domain names before a 15 May deadline.
The marketing material was sent to a large sample of domain name
holders, including BulkRegister clients, and appeared as an
invoice.
BulkRegister said that not only did the reply deadline on the
notices have no relation to the actual expiry date of the domain
names, they solicited BulkRegister customers with a renewal fee
that would approve the transfer of their domain name to VeriSign.
According to BulkRegister lawyer Patrick O'Brien, US law governing
mail solicitation requires that companies inform the public that
the material is a solicitation, which VeriSign failed to do in this
case.
"This smacks of another Internet industry scam and VeriSign is one
of the industry leaders," said O'Brien.
BulkRegister is asking for a restraining order and injunction
against VeriSign. A hearing on the case is scheduled today.
No one from VeriSign was available for comment yesterday.