[registrars] FYI - DOMAIN-RENEWAL.BIZ UPDATE

["Michael D. Palage" <michael@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello All:

I know that a lot of registrars have had their hands full responding to
registrant inquiries regarding the business pratices of this company. I just
wanted to give a heads up to those registrars that may not have received
this email from NeuLevel yet.

Best regards,

Michael D. Palage


-----Original Message-----
From: Registrar Signup - NeuLevel [mailto:registrarsignup@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, July 21, 2003 12:27 PM
To: fernando@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: NeuLevel Advisory (Please read) - Domain-Renewal.biz (2nd
notice)


Dear Registrars:

SUBJECT:  NEULEVEL ADVISORY (PLEASE READ)

NeuLevel has received information directly from the owner of
domain-renewal.biz, Mel Goudie, that he will retaliate against NeuLevel as
well as all .BIZ domain name registrants in response to our action this
past Friday, when we placed the domain name domain-renewal.biz on registry
hold.

In a written statement to the Registry, Mr. Goudie has threatened to send
out 25,000 e-mail messages per day to .BIZ domain name registrants "so
that [NeuLevel] is disrupted continually for the next month or so by
thousands of phone calls each day."  More specifically, Mr. Goudie has
admitted that he will spam each of your customers with an e-mail that
purportedly comes from our Registry making customers believe that their
domain names will be deleted by NeuLevel.  The text of Mr. Goudie's
proposed e-mail is provided at the bottom of this e-mail.

We take Mr. Goudie's threat of fraudulent activity extremely seriously and
are providing it to you so that you may take any actions you deem
necessary to alert your customers.  We are also investigating possible
legal action on this matter as well.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your
cooperation in this matter.  Please do not hesitate to give us a call if
you have any questions.

Richard Tindal
Vice President, Registry Services


****************************************************************************
*******************************************

From: NEULEVEL Notifications

Subject: Domain Deletion (domainname.biz)
 
Dear Registrant,
 
This is notification that under our agreement with
ICANN, your domain name may be deleted within the next
24 hours, with no further notice to yourself.

Our agreement states:

"Registry Operator reserves the right to deny, cancel
or transfer any registration that it deems necessary,
in its discretion; (1) to protect the integrity and
stability of the registry; (2) to comply with any
applicable laws, government rules or requirements,
requests of law enforcement, in compliance with any
dispute resolution process; (3) to avoid any
liability, civil or criminal, on the part of Registry
Operator, as well as its affiliates, subsidiaries,
officers, directors, and employees; (4) for violations
of this Agreement and its Exhibits; or (5) to correct
mistakes made by Registry Operator or any Registrar in
connection with a domain name registration. Registry
Operator also reserves the right to freeze a domain
name during resolution of a dispute."

Please contact Neulevel by telephone on +1 571 434
5757 if you would like to discuss this matter.

<END>




-----Original Message-----
From: Registrar Signup - NeuLevel [mailto:registrarsignup@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 2:37 PM
To: cs@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Domain-Renewal.biz - Notice to Registrars


Dear Registrar Partner,

As you may be aware, both NeuLevel and Tucows have received numerous
complaints from both Registrars as well as .BIZ domain name registrants
regarding the activities of Mr. Mel Goudie, the domain name registrant of
domain-renewal.biz ("Registrant") involving the purported renewal of .BIZ
domain names.

According to the complaints, the domain name registrant for
domain-renewal.biz, has been sending out domain name renewal notices which
have not only been regarding .BIZ domain names that are not due for
renewal for at least a year, but also have been delivered to registrants
of .BIZ domain names that are not listed in the Registry's Whois database
as being the registrant's customers.

We continue to believe that these types of notices may involve
questionable trade practices, and therefore, we feel obligated to forward
these notices to all of you as well as to the Federal Trade Commission for
their review.  In addition, we are also currently investigating whether we
believe that the registrant has violated the WHOIS policy ("WHOIS Policy")
which can be found when a Whois query is performed at www.whois.biz.  More
specifically, we are looking into whether it obtained information about
other Registrars' customers in violation of the WHOIS policy:

By submitting a WHOIS query, you agree that you will use this data only
for lawful purposes and that, under no circumstances will you use this
data: (1) to allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via direct mail,
electronic mail, or by telephone; (2) in contravention of any applicable
data and privacy protection acts; or (3) to enable high volume, automated,
electronic processes that apply to the registry (or its systems).

In addition, this past week we have received at least one complaint from a
separate .BIZ domain name registrant that had allegedly mistakenly gone to
the registrant's website, www.domain-renewal.biz, and entered its credit
card information expecting to renew its domain names.  However, according
to the complaint with the registry, although payment was accepted,
services were not performed.

We view such activities as harmful to the .BIZ domain name registry and,
if allowed to continue, threaten the stability and integrity of the
registry.  In light of the above, we hade no choice but to invoke our
rights under Section III of Exhibit E to Appendix F of our
Registry/Registrar Agreement and place the domain name on "Registry Hold"
until this matter can be resolved.

We take the conduct of this particular registrant extremely seriously and
do not view the actions we have taken lightly.  We are continuing this
investigation and may be seeking your assistance the coming weeks on this
matter.

Thanks again for all your cooperation.

Richard Tindal
Vice President, Registry Services