Domain Protection Offers

Copyright © 2009 TEV Law Group. All rights reserved.


From: Gregg R. Zegarelli, Esq.
Subject: Emails from Domain Acquisition Providers

QUESTION:

I received an email from Asia or another location indicating that there is someone trying to register a similar domain name to mine.  Such as with a different country extension.  The company seems to be protecting my interest in preemptively acquiring the domain name on my behalf.  Is this a scam?  What should I do?

ANSWER:

There are a variety of ways that you might receive such an email.  First, assuming that the email is from someone with whom you have never transacted business, you should be skeptical.  Second, assuming that the email is from an unconfirmed location outside of the USA, you should be more skeptical.  Third, if the company wants your identity information and/or money, you should be most skeptical.

Basically, we cannot say, without specific research, whether any company sending a solicitation or purporting to protect your interest is legitimate.  They may be a legitimate company and do exactly what they offer for the fee proposed.  However, another question may be that, even if they are legitimate, do you really need their service, and, if you do, are they the right ones to provide the service.

Remember, if you’ve never done business with the enterprise and you give them any personal information, you have potentially compromised your identity.  If you have a domain name that you want or need to acquire, we often suggest that you go through a well-known provider, such as GoDaddy.com, when possible.  You can perform a WHOIS search at GoDaddy.com to find details about the soliciting company’s identity.

There is no reasonable logical end to the domain name extension issue.  If the company says the .CA extension is going to be acquired, and you, therefore, engage that company to get it for you, then the next day possibly the .IT extension will have the same issue, then the next day, another extension with the same issue.  Are you going to acquire every extension of your domain?  Sooner or later, you need to make a decision when to stop.

As a result, we often suggest that you acquire all domain names you know you need, and the ones that are strategically important, and to do it with a company located in the States with a well-known reputation that you contact.  However, again, the company may have a service that is valuable to you in your particular circumstances.

As a general rule only, our own firm disregards these types of emails when we receive them for our own accounts, but that is appropriate for us and may not be appropriate for you.

For more information, contact us at info@tevlaw.com