Hello,

My first posting to this list, but I thought it appropriate since I am the
past Chair of the CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority) Board and
a current Director on the newly-elected Board, and I am in Canberra at the
moment.
Given that auDA has encountered similar situations, and CIRA is interested
in learning from your experiences (and in the spirit of international
cooperation), I just wanted to let you know what action CIRA has taken.
A synopsis of the CIRA staff's action follows:

On Tuesday morning, July 17, CIRA staff began receiving emails and phone
calls from registrants complaining that they had received documents
resembling invoices from IROC.  The complainants' main concerns were that:
- The "invoices" resembled Government of Canada financial
documents/statements;
- They had never heard of IROC.

CIRA staff immediately looked into the complaints and determined that IROC
was a reseller for a CIRA certified Registrar. Staff then advised Industry
Canada and
the Registrar that CIRA was receiving complaints against IROC.

At approximately 1:00 PM the Registrar advised CIRA staff that the contract
with
the reseller had been terminated.

On Wednesday morning, July 18, CIRA staff were advised by Industry Canada's
Competition Bureau that IROC was under investigation for sending these
"invoices" as well as other activities.

CIRA staff will continue to cooperate with
government authorities in their investigations.

Regards,
Maureen Cubberley

Maureen Cubberley
Partner, ASM Advanced Strategic Management Consultants
Director, CIRA Canadian Internet Registration Authority
Director, The Smart Portal Co. Inc.
m.cubberley§sympatico.ca


----- Original Message -----
From: "David Goldstein" <DGoldstein&#167;comslaw.org.au>
To: "DNS mailing list" <dns&#167;auda.org.au>
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2001 7:22 PM
Subject: [DNS] CANADIANS HIT WITH DOMAIN SCAMS AND QUESTIONABLE PRACTICES


> CANADIANS HIT WITH DOMAIN SCAMS AND QUESTIONABLE PRACTICES
> Canada's two national newspapers both run stories on
> different domain scams and questionable practices -- the
> National Post covers a Toronto domain registry company
> sending out thousands of notices to dot-com owners with
> "Internet Registry of Canada" letterhead and official notice
> information about transferring domain management.  The Globe
> & Mail covers a Swiss company using the dot-ca whois
> database to target dot-ca owners with invoices for nearly
> $1000 for an error-filled guidebook.
>
http://www.nationalpost.com/tech/story.html?f=/stories/20010718/621265.html
>
>
http://rtnews.globetechnology.com/servlet/RTGAMArticleHTMLTemplate/C/2001071
7/wxwebb?tf=RT/fullstory_Tech.html&cf=globetechnology/tech-config-neutral&sl
ug=wxwebb&date=20010717
>
>
>
> --
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