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VeriSign's Problems Continue

Members of the ISP-DNS list say that apparently harmless VeriSign "invoices" may actually be attempts to steal business from a competitor, OpenSRS, and may be tantamount to mail fraud, which is a felony.

[May 9, 2002]

On the ISP-DNS list in April, CN warned,

"We just received some notices today from VeriSign regarding a few domains we registered with OpenSRS—we never registered them with Network Solutions or with VeriSign. The forms, labeled 'Domain Name Expiration Notice,' ask for 'renewal' of the domains, even though they're registered with OpenSRS and aren't about to expire. Where can I complain about these predatory practices?"

Some respondents debated the ethics of VeriSign's actions:

[TH contended] "Can you honestly blame VeriSign? They're not my favorite company, but many smaller companies have been doing exactly this to them for years."

[GL countered] "Ethical behavior does not depend on who you're doing it to: it depends on what you're doing and why. They should not have been the victim of this type of behavior, but they should not do it to others, either. If they want to remain in business, they should focus on providing better service than the cheaper guys."

[RP added] "This is very similar to the companies that send out fake bills which only say in the fine print, 'this is not an invoice,' knowing that many business will pay them on the assumption that they're real."

Others suggested taking action:

[RK advised] "I would suggest that anyone receiving these letters from Network Solutions or VeriSign should file a report with the FTC."

[RP agreed] "As far as complaints go, the FTC might be your best bet. It might also be a good idea to e-mail all your customers and warn them about this. The more that the average person knows about this, the better. Send something like, 'Beware of letter from Network Solutions attempting to steal your domain; they want you to switch to them. If you switch to them and your domain expires, Network Solutions will keep the domain and never let you re-register it. If you stick with your current registrar, this should not happen.'"

[WW added] "Their message violates federal mail guidelines. The official USPS regulations for mail 'that reasonably could be considered a bill, invoice, or statement of account due, but is in fact a solicitation for an order' are viewable here.

The requirement is that the following phrase must appear in capital letters on the face of the notice: 'THIS IS NOT A BILL. THIS IS A SOLICITATION. YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PAY THE AMOUNT STATED ABOVE UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THIS OFFER.' The VeriSign letters clearly violate this requirement, and should be considered mail fraud.

You can complain to your local Postal Inspector, or file your complaint online here. And don't underestimate the power of even a single complaint. As an agency, the Postal Inspectors do an excellent job investigating complaints of all levels."

—End