Verisign sued for false advertising.

May 13, 2002 4:14 PM

Verisign sued for false advertising. Domain registrar VeriSign has been mailing out thousands of "domain name expiration" notices that imply that domain-name owners could lose control of their name if they don't return the form (as noted previously on MeFi), and BulkRegister has filed suit in federal court. No lawsuits on that that other matter yet, but is the fall of Verisign impending?
posted by gleuschk (19 comments total)

One can only hope...
posted by Tacodog at 4:15 PM on May 13, 2002

Excellent!

I, too, recieved these notices. Both at work and at home.

"What the F*#@? I'm not registered with those guys! Why are they telling me I need to renew?"

I called up verisign, told them their mailings were fraudulent, and that they must never contact me again, ever, under any circumstances, not even to reply to my complaint.
posted by dum2007 at 4:22 PM on May 13, 2002

This is probably the more relevant link. The one gleuschk refers to isn't about the false domain renewal notices, but one man's take on Verisign's renew for more than 1 year pricing plan.
posted by WolfDaddy at 4:26 PM on May 13, 2002

Oops, quite right WolfDaddy. Thanks.
posted by gleuschk at 4:29 PM on May 13, 2002

I recieved one of those notices last month for my domain. It pissed me off. I'd already paid to renew it, it just hadn't been reflected in my whois lookup as of the date the junkmail was postmarked.

I'd love to see them get nailed for this.
posted by katieinshoes at 4:55 PM on May 13, 2002

Oh, and one picture is worth a thousand words.
posted by WolfDaddy at 4:55 PM on May 13, 2002

When Domain Registry of America banked their hopes on my falling for their bogus "invoices", that was bad enough.

My last NetSol domain doesn't expire until the end of the year, but I think I'll cut the cord with them now before they start any obstructive hijinks.
posted by LinusMines at 5:37 PM on May 13, 2002

Also love the payment options...no online, no phone, just send or fax a credit card number.
posted by lmo56 at 5:37 PM on May 13, 2002

I work for an ISP and if Verisign is doing it, they are just jumping on the bandwagon a half-dozen other companies hitched up and have been riding for years.

If you trust any registrar, you are a peach ripe for picking. Vigilance!
posted by wiinga at 6:11 PM on May 13, 2002

Hello? Aren't these the folks who used to be Network Solutions? I remember when NS was the premier place to register your domains - now I rely on dotster. Amazing how desperate corporations will resort to hair brained schemes to save themselves when their product and marketing fail. Capitalism at it's finest.
posted by wfrgms at 6:19 PM on May 13, 2002

wfrgms, Network Solutions was never the "premier" place to register domains. They started out as an office of the National Science Foundation, were flipped outside and incorporated as a business, and grew to be the only place where you could register a domain in the major US TLDs ... because they were a monopoly. It wasn't until ICANN insisted over Network Solutions' objections that the registration process be opened up that you even had a choice. And then for the next year or so they could still go around claiming they were the premier place just because everybody else had only been around a year or less. (And to this day, they maintain the central registry database under contract -- no matter who you buy from, some money goes to Verisign.)

But they've always been assailed for their monopolistic, bureaucratic, hierarchical, paranoid, non-customer-service-oriented, excessively-expensive, and often just-plain-clueless management of their default semi-monopoly. Even before they were a "business".
posted by dhartung at 8:39 PM on May 13, 2002

I got those goddam fake letters from Verisign at work. My office manager had put it right in the "bills to pay" file. I totally flipped my wig. What's next, is Verisign going to go around door-to-door selling acres of land in Florida to the eldery? Disgusting cretins.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 8:50 PM on May 13, 2002

To solve my financial problems, I am going to start sending invoices to people for their mortgages. Or maybe credit-card payments. I'm sure no-one will mind.
posted by Neale at 9:26 PM on May 13, 2002

wolfdaddy - That picture was beautiful. Maybe we can see it again in slow motion replay?

P.S. Can't forget the obligatory Verisign Google bomb.
posted by chipr at 1:19 AM on May 14, 2002

So... how can I move my stuff off of Verisign without having them mess it up and cause me to lose my domains?
Has anyone used godaddy and are they any good?
posted by Maxor at 7:41 AM on May 14, 2002

I've moved several domains off Verisign/NSI to Dotster; it was pretty hassle-free. Just fill out the form at Dotster, then NSI sends you e-mail to confirm. After you do so, about a week later you should get another e-mail from NSI telling you the transfer is complete.
posted by kindall at 8:08 AM on May 14, 2002

Maxor, I use godaddy for all my domains and they're quite honestly really great. I love their domain management tools, etc and of course the price is right also.

(I don't work for them, I promise, lol ;)
posted by eclectic glamazon at 8:42 AM on May 14, 2002

This should probably be a FPP, but I've already blown my allowance for the day.

However, a federal judge has told Verisign to knock it off.
posted by WolfDaddy at 8:37 PM on May 14, 2002

Ug. I just transferred to gandi.net. I trust the French.
posted by evixir at 8:37 PM on May 14, 2002