Commission urges caution when dealing with Domain Names NZ

The Commerce Commission is aware of a mass mail out by a business trading as Domain Names NZ, and strongly urges caution when dealing with the organisation.

The Commission has received in excess of 100 contacts this week from members of the public who have received correspondence from Domain Names NZ, which gives the impression of an invoice or a renewal notice.

“Domain Names NZ appears to be sending pro-forma letters to registrants of .co.nz domain names. The letters seek fees for the registration of the .net.nz version of the same name,” said Deborah Battell, Director of Fair Trading at the Commission.

“The Commission is concerned that current registrants of .co.nz may be being misled into thinking they are in fact paying to re-register their current domain name.

“People are urged to look carefully at all details before paying any sum requested,” Ms Battell said.

“In the meantime, the Commission will continue to look into this issue.”

Background The Domain Name Commissioner is not aware of any authorised .nz domain name registrar using the trade name ‘Domain Names NZ’. The letters to registrants specify a .net.nz domain name to be registered. Bona fide .nz domain name registrars are not permitted to specify a particular domain name in an offer of registry services. The Domain Names Commissioner is also monitoring the situation and will investigate any possible breaches of .nz policy.

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