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Alert issued over domain registry outfit
06-02-2004
by Matthew Clark

Experts are warning Irish companies not be taken in by a UK firm that is hawking domain names over the phone at a premium price.

"Basically, they call you up and tell you that one of their clients is about to register a domain name similar to yours and offer you the chance to buy it first," explained Liam Coyle, the marketing manager with Cork-based hosting company Darklite-SCE. Coyle said several Darklite customers have been contacted in recent days by the firm.

"This may be legal...but it's definitely unethical," he said. "The trouble is, there is no way to know if their clients are about the register the domain."

According to Coyle and the Irish Internet Association (IIA), Bournemouth-based ISIS has offered prospective Irish customers three options: register the domain in question for up to 10 years at a cost of USD1,400; allow the site to be registered by ISIS's unnamed client with a paid-for link to another site; or simply allow the site to be registered by the unnamed client.

"My advice to anyone who has been contacted would be to call your existing service provider and talk with them about it," commented Irene Gahan, the CEO of the Irish Internet Association. For businesses without a regular hosting company or technical service provider, "contact your Web designer or Network Solutions and just register the domain yourself," she said.

Gahan, who described the service in question as a "scam," said several Irish companies who were concerned about the calls have contacted her office. "I think most people were aware that something wasn't right," she said. "But there are some people who will fall for this."

ISIS did not return repeated calls on this matter.

It's worth noting that such incidents have cropped up numerous times in the last few years and Irish companies have bought domains -- sometimes at highly inflated prices -- from companies who were later accused of decidedly unethical practices. The so-called "Domain Name of America" scam and the "Domain Support Group" scam are probably the most notable. A group called the Domain Registry of Europe (DRoE) also made the news in 2002 by sending out documents that looked like bills for domain registration in an effort to cajole businesses to hand over cash.