Shonky Domain Registration Business Smacked Down By Federal Court

When we wrote about domain registrars recently we warned to be on the lookout for shonky operators that tried to dupe you into dodgy deals. The Federal Court has ordered that Domain Corp Pty Ltd and Domain Name Agency Pty Ltd pay combined penalties of $1.95 million for breaching the Australian Consumer Law.

The operators sent out approximately 300,000 unsolicited notices to businesses between November 2015 to at least April 2017. The notices looked like a renewal invoice for the business’s existing domain name. Instead, these notices were for the registration of a new domain name at a cost ranging from $249 to $275.

The Court declared that the companies made false and misleading representations and engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in sending these notices. Australian businesses and organisations paid approximately $2.3 million to the Domain Companies as a result of receiving the notices.

“The Domain Companies misled businesses into thinking they were renewing payment for the business’ existing domain name, when in fact the business was paying for a new domain name,” ACCC Acting Chair Delia Rickard said.

Any business or consumer receiving a renewal notice for a ‘.com’ or ‘.net.au’ domain name should check that the notice is to renew their proper domain name.

The Court also declared that the sole director of both Domain Companies, Mr Steven Bell (also known as Steven Jon Oehlers), was knowingly concerned in, and a party to, the conduct.

The Court made other orders by consent, including injunctions for three years against each of the Domain Companies and for five years against Mr Bell. These injunctions include a requirement that if any of the parties decide to send out further notices, each notice has to prominently include the words, “This notice does not relate to the registration of your current domain name. This is not a bill. You are not required to pay any money”.

The Court also made an order disqualifying Mr Bell from managing a corporation for five years and ordered him to pay costs to the ACCC, fixed at $8000.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/06/five-of-the-best-domain-name-registrars/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/06/Laptop-1-410×231.jpg” title=”Five Of The Best Domain Name Registrars [2018]” excerpt=”Registering a domain name is one of the first things new businesses need to do when they’re setting up. And that means dealing with a company that dispenses domain names; a domain registrar. Registrars verify that the name you’ve chosen isn’t the same as someone else’s and they manage the renewal process. Often, they bundle domain name registration with other services such as web hosting and cloud-based email. So, who are some of the better domain registrars out there and what should you look out for?”]