US Court tells VeriSign to halt ad campaign

US-based Domain Name Registrar VeriSign Inc has been ordered by a US Court to cease sending domain expiration notices as part of its advertising campaigns.

US-based Domain Name Registrar VeriSign Inc has been ordered by a US Court to cease sending domain expiration notices as part of its advertising campaigns.

BulkRegister, a competing Domain Name Registrar, sued VeriSign on Monday after the company sent out thousands of domain expirations notices to BulkRegister customers. These notices urged people to renew their domains before they expired and were released back onto the market. However, the domain names were in no danger of expiration and, by completing and returning the form, BulkRegister customers were actually authorising the transfer of their domains to VeriSign control.

US Judge Frederic N. Smalkin agreed with BulkRegister's claim that these emails were deceptive and aimed at tricking BulkRegister customers into transferring their domains to VeriSign. As such, he issued an injunction banning VeriSign from sending the notices to BulkRegister customers pending a final ruling on the case.

Unfortunately the injunction only applies to current BulkRegister customers. However, others are taking up the fight – including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, who are also considering action against Domain Name Registrars who use domain name expiration notices as part of their advertising campaigns.