NetLink IT Services would like to advise people to be very cautious about any e-mails or letters they receive from third parties about domain renewals. In the past few weeks, a number of our customers have received letters from the "Domain Registry of America", advising domain registrants that their domains are about to expire. The heading of such letters usually reads "Domain Name Expiration Notice". The "Domain Registry of America" is well-known for its questionable marketing tactics and has recently been barred by a federal district court from using special marketing strategies to mislead consumers and "trick" them into transferring their names to the company.

On December 23. 2003, The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requested that a federal district court instruct the Internet domain name reseller from making misrepresentations in the marketing of its domain name registration services. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the company told consumers that their domain registrations were expiring, leading many consumers unwittingly to switch their domain name registrar. The company also allegedly did not disclose that it would charge a processing fee to consumers if their transfer request was not completed and failed to provide consumers refunds in a timely manner.

Domain Registry of America, based in Ontario, Canada, was prohibited from engaging in similar conduct in the future, and is now subject to stringent monitoring by the FTC.

Customers are advised not to send any correspondence or payments unless they are perfectly clear about the consequences. If in doubt, NetLink IT Services would be more than happy to answer any questions regarding this matter.

Currently, all customer domains registered through NetLink IT Services are set to auto-renew unless otherwise instructed by the customer. This means that customers of NetLink IT Services do not need to worry about expiring domains.

Sample letter from the DROA: