[registrars] FW: Registrar Accuses VeriSign Of Predatory Marketing
My
concern is
* How
are they getting the name, mailing address and expiry date of these domain
names??
bhavin
-----Original Message-----
From: all.internal-owner@lists.directi.com [mailto:all.internal-owner@lists.directi.com]On Behalf Of Saurabh Pande Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2002 2:48 PM To: Internal List Subject: Registrar Accuses VeriSign Of Predatory Marketing Registrar Accuses VeriSign Of Predatory
Marketing
by David McGuire Go Daddy Software, an Internet address seller and Web hosting company, says that addressing giant VeriSign Inc. is attempting to dupe Go Daddy customers into transferring their domain name registrations to VeriSign. In a letter to its customers, Go Daddy accused
VeriSign of sending out domain name "renewal notices" to Go Daddy users. The
fine print of the direct mail notices reveals that signing and returning one of
them authorizes VeriSign to transfer a customer's Internet address from Go Daddy
to VeriSign.
"The domain expiration notices are designed so that
it is not obvious that the notices are from VeriSign Inc. as opposed to Go Daddy
Software," Go Daddy President Bob Parsons wrote in the letter.
"What it relies on is deception. It relies on the
individual to be unsuspecting (and) uninformed. It's a trick," Parsons told
Newsbytes. "To me, that's no way to do business."
Go Daddy has posted an electronic image of one of
the VeriSign notices - which Parsons says went out to Go Daddy customers - on
its Web site at http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/private_vsrn.asp?display=letter
.
VeriSign spokesman Pat Burns confirmed that his
company had sent out the notices as a mass mailing, but said that there was
nothing improper about them.
"Everything we send has our name on it," Burns
said. "It's a competitive marketplace. We reach out to a variety of different
customers to make them aware of our services."
But while Parsons conceded that the VeriSign
mailing did bear VeriSign's corporate logo, he said the notice contained no
pitch to customers about why they should switch their service away from Go
Daddy.
Parsons said he has received notes from several Go
Daddy customers who thought it was a simple renewal form.
Parsons said that Go Daddy executives are still
attempting to determine whether they can or should take action against VeriSign
over the notices.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) - which manages the Internet's addressing system and accredits
Internet registrars like Go Daddy and VeriSign - will look into the matter,
ICANN spokeswoman Mary Hewitt said today.
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