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Saturday, 14 April 2007
Registerfly is still open for business and still charging customers who come there to purchase domain names.  We're asking that any of you who have made purchases or who have attempted to renew your domain names with Registerfly to forward this proof so that Clark Dummit can continue to pursue this lawsuit on behalf of the class participants.  Please read on!

To those still being affected by RegisterFly’s Fraud:

As part of the class action lawsuit against RegisterFly and ICANN, I am investigating the “on going” fraud, and would like to gather information from people who have very recently (within the past 4 weeks, since I filed the case on March 13th 2007) experienced new RegisterFly fraud.  I know most of you reading this email have either been forced to put your credit card in (in a vain attempt to save your domain), or face the prospect of losing it for non-payment.  However it looks like hundreds of unknowing new victims continue to be robbed by RegisterFly even after the suit has been filed, and ICANN is still doing nothing to protect these newest victims.

I have received multiple reports (and you know ICANN has) of people who have tried to register new domain names after March 13th 2007, who get confirmations from RegisterFly, but the domain name never materialized.  If you have been ripped off after March 13th 2007, with new charges for services without receiving them, please put a brief description in an email to defrauded [at] Registerfly-Lawsuit [dot] com.  Please include in the BRIEF email:

  1. the date that you paid RF
  2. the service you thought you were buying: (hosting, renewal, new name, etc.) 
  3. the type of payment that you sent (PayPal, credit card, etc.)
  4. the amount you sent.  

This data may be used in additional filings with the Court, however your name will not be disclosed unless you authorize it.  Please do not disclose any confidential information such as credit card numbers. The actual calculation of damages for the lawsuit will be calculated later, and in much greater detail.   I am only using this data to demonstrate the extent of the “new” fraud which ICANN is assisting in perpetrating. 

I have also received several reports that after giving RegisterFly their credit card information, fraudulent charges from unknown third parties have been appearing on RegisterFly’s customer’s credit cards.  This may well be coincidence as credit card fraud is rampant.  BUT it may also be systematic; nothing will surprise me.  If your credit card was tagged with unrelated charges after you gave your credit card information to RegisterFly, please send a detailed email to IDtheft [at] Registerfly-Lawsuit [dot] com  with the following information:

  1. the date that you gave RF your credit card information.
  2. the payment method that you sent (Amex Ex, Visa, MC )
  3. the exact information regarding who made additional and unauthorized charges on the card.  (what business was listed as receiving the money)

The more detail we receive about the exact unauthorized charges, the more likely it is that we may be able to identify a pattern.  Again, please do not disclose any confidential information such as credit card numbers.  I am not interested in collecting any demographic information.  I am only looking for a pattern of similar fraudulent transactions.  If there is a pattern of consistent fraudulent charges, the affected people will be notified, and we may be able to work with the credit card companies to stop this.

Thank you for your help.  I will keep you updated as to the progress when I can disclose any new information.  In the mean time, hang in there.  There has been no movement from ICANN on getting the court to rule on the TRO they requested in California, and the Judge in our case here in North Carolina has granted ICANN’s motion to postpone our injunction hearing without an explanation, presumably to allow ICANN to get the data through the California case?  In the mean time, I can gather the additional information I am requesting, and prepare for the next round. 

Thank you for your continued help.

Clarke Dummit
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LegalWorker - *Theft by Deception Registered | 2007-04-18 01:17:39
* CRIMINALS ACTS AT REGISTERFLY.com *

(1) IS YOUR DOMAIN IN DANGER OF BEING STOLEN? Are you now or have been ...
a scam victim of Registerfly.com and there practice of premeditated,
*Theft by Deception"
[Law Definition Reference] http://www.lrc.ky.gov/krs/51400/040.PDF

Have you been double and triple billed on your debit/credit card,paypal account,etc or maybe such actions as domains missing from your account,
and of course UNWANTED PROTECTFLY, (Hijacking your domain name)
Vanishing Domains, Locking transfers, Locking your DNS, Locking accounts because you REPORTED "being over-charged" ...
perhaps you have you been 'DECEIVED by (felony interstate credit card fraud) getting E-MAIL notices of domain renewal SUCCESS ...
only to find out Registerfly took money under false pretenses,because your DOMAIN was -NEVER- Renewed at the Root-Registar "Whois Database"

------POST your story NOW! -------

(2) If you have had 'PROTECTFLY' added without your authorization so you could not renew or transfer away,
(a locking device,NEVER intended for said criminal use to high-jack domains, but to just protect "Whois" privacy from spamers,etc)
has ownership of your domain changed when PROTECTFLY was added with out your consent, making Registerfly.com or Glen@registerfy.com,
or Support@Registerfly.com the 'default profile owner,and taking away your right to manage your own domain, (so it can be sold-off)
and/or have you lost or are losing your domain property,
as it will expire/expired because you have no access to be able to renew/transfer and make changes in your Registerfly account domain manager.

Footnote: Has your domain expired or will soon expire and you will lose property ownership via ...
*Theft by Deception [Law Definition Reference] http://www.lrc.ky.gov/krs/514-00/040.PDF

Fill in your "Complaint Form" at this Website ...
[FBI] Federal Bureau of Investigation

http://www.ic3.gov

------POST your story here NOW! -------
delikasi - Domain Renewal Fraud Registered | 2007-04-14 12:58:52
I'm a victim of this. I'm sending a detailed email to IDtheft [at] Registerfly-Lawsuit [dot] com
about my case via email for confidentiality and security reasons. I will copy the Office of Consumer Protection (http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/ocp/ocpform.htm) I paid RF using my Mastercard early this April for the renewal of a domain that is under Protectfly. My card charged, my account with RF was debited the renewal amount but the renewal never happened. The domain name dissappeared in my list of domain names. I have more than 30 domains still stucked with them and I am very worried on what to do now. My clients might sue me if i cant recover these domains. I need help badly. I have all the proof (emails, snapshots of transactions made at RF). Thank you. I hope this forum could help me.
LegalWorker - re: Domain Renewal Fraud Registered | 2007-04-14 14:05:11
delikasi wrote:
I'm a victim of this. I'm sending a detailed email to IDtheft [at] Registerfly-Lawsuit [dot] com
about my case via email for confidentiality and security reasons. I will copy the Office of Consumer Protection (http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/ocp/ocpform.htm) I paid RF using my Mastercard early this April for the renewal of a domain that is under Protectfly. My card charged, my account with RF was debited the renewal amount but the renewal never happened. The domain name dissappeared in my list of domain names. I have more than 30 domains still stucked with them and I am very worried on what to do now. My clients might sue me if i cant recover these domains. I need help badly. I have all the proof (emails, snapshots of transactions made at RF). Thank you. I hope this forum could help me.


Hello Delikasi,

Good move on Registerfly-Lawsuit.com

If you want to also be included in the "criminal petition" mentioned above, join ...
regesterflies.com then i will if you choose gather fraud detail information.

Also if you wish to talk to others who have had there ...
domain name "vanish from there account"
who you may personaly talk with via e-Mail and/or telephone 'right away' on this issue, but first ...
join 'registerflies.com as ID: Delikasi,
and watch for the "Theft by Deception"
e-Mail wirh simple procedure instructions to on how to sign up for the petition and network with others.
Car Registered | 2007-04-14 22:05:57
I have 9 to 12 domains registered through Registerfly.com as their own ICANN accredited register i have recieved 60 day renewal notices for the said domains .. i have not paid nor have i given Registerfly my CC details .. I wish to keep these domain names if i can .. IE: transfer them to another registrar .. but this appears to be an immpossible task in the current situation until perhaps ICANN allows transfers away with out AuthCode ..

I dont know that i would qualify to join this class action until i perhaps lose control of the domain names .. opinion ?
sjwitz - RE: Car Registered | 2007-04-14 23:55:46
From what I understand from the litigation web site, I think it would be enough that you're an R'Fly customer who cannot transfer away domains. I don't think you have to show that you paid R'Fly any additional money (i.e., for a failed renewal) to be part of the class action. If you paid R'Fly to sponsor the domain, and they are not honoring your transfer requests and/or letting you modify your whois or nameservers, then in my mind you are being ripped off from the very beginning.

Disclaimer: I am a law student, not a lawyer. This is not intended to be legal advice. --SJR
dirtyflies - My History with Flies Registered | 2007-04-15 11:18:02
I've always thought it was odd for any company to have the word "fly" in it. I should have trusted my intuition.

I've been with Registerfly for four years. During the first year, I was so excited by the cheap domains I registered around 50 overtime. I was mainly using their free service: Free Web Site Submissions that resubmitted for free every month. I took advantage of their free starter web space and the advantage of modifying metas as part of the free search. This brought my ranking very high for at least a year or two.

Suddenly, I noticed that my traffic and sales dropped tremendously. Rather than suspecting it was Regfly' related, I started to reinvest in SEO tools etc and assumed changes in the Internet climate attributed to a 30 to 50% reduction in revenue.

Registerfly had sent a notice to customers that they were upgrading their services so that some features were not available. Behind the scenes: they were downgrading and fleeing from ENOM; but I knew nothing of this.

Finally, after a year of this, I noticed that the mulitiple sites I was using was actually shut down as Register moved its servers or services away from ENOM.

I had a domain name that was very valuable to me: which I registered in 2001. I added about five years life to it at Registerfly and kept it alone.

Last year, I went to the domain manager in the admin panel and noticed that my "valuable domain" had no expire date. Why? All domains have an expire date!

I called Regfly and they told me that that domain was not with them. I was baffled. I had paid for an renewal extension on this domain with them.

As I pressed them for answers, a tech support rep confessed to me that they were trying to "move away" from Enom. As result of this, they in so many words: accused Enom of stealing their domains. Of course, I didn't realize at the time that it was actually the other way around: that they were both fighting for what they thought belongs to them.

As far as I am concerned: if you paid for something, you own it. I don't understand how this concept could be bypassed with the regulations and laws regarding Domain Registration. WHY in fact, does a Registrar "Own" your domain when YOU paid for it?

What happened next? I had to call up ENOM to BUY back my domain for 200-something dollars! A domain that cost me less than 7 dollars a year at Registerfly now costed me much more!

All these "administrative" and operational issues that happen behind the closed doors of Registration companies--left unmoniterred or regulated, hurts EVERYONE in the end: especially consumers.

Another thing that Regfly' is doing is crediting failed renewals and registration to a system called "Quick Checkout" where it is like a "store credit." No matter how many times I submit a ticket for them to give me credit back to my Credit Card--they failed to do so. Quick Checkout is a scam; a way to hold a reserve and without monies due to the customer.

Right now I have over 20 domains hijacked by Regfly. I can't get Auth codes from them. They refused to disable Protectfly. Whois comes up blank. This is not only frustrating it is Criminal and happening in PLAIN VIEW. Why can't something so blatant and visible be intervened by the Government of FBI? Why can't their servers be confiscated to protect consumer data and to make assure that evidence will not be destroyed?

What Regfly is doing is a silent type of white collar crime. If they were terrorists toting bombs in trucks, they would have been arrested. But because the public or no one sees, they are not being stopped. This needs to be taken to the Press. Someone should do it.
dirtyflies - Taking Screen Shots as Evidenc Registered | 2007-04-15 11:24:22
The most that can be done for evidence is to take "Screen Shots" of the domain listings, accounting and support tickets displayed in admin control panel at registerfly. If control panel blocks you out, take a screen shot of that too.

One Windows:
-hit the "prt sc" button at the upper right hand corner of keyboard. Unlike macs, it will not make a sound or alert you to an action. But what it really is doing is "copying" the screen.
-Open "Paint" application and without touching anything, just hit "CRTL+C" to copy the screen. Save and repeat if necessary.
webby - My story - Domain transfer blo Registered | 2007-04-15 17:05:10
excuse me for my poor english.....

It's a shame, big shame.... that this is permitted. I've more 150 domains with RF.
I've tried to renew some of them but nothing (charged my credit card, but no renew), I'm tring to transfer these domain but I can't obtain auth code (protectfly activated and there is no possible to disable it).

What we can do, I can't believe that this fraud can't stop it.

I'm in pray because more of these my domains are of my customers.

What can I do ?
I repeat: it's a big shame !
LegalWorker - Did ICANN Mislead the PUBLIC? Registered | 2007-04-17 03:18:00
QUESTION: (a) WHERE ARE THE UPDATES AS PROMISED?

(b) WHY NO STATEMENT ABOUT THE "TRO" (TEMPERARY RESTRAINING ORDER?)

(c) UPDATED STATUS OF THE FOUR (4) ROOT REGISTRARS REGARDING DELETION

WHERE IS THE FOLLOW UP?

[OLD ICANN QUOTE]
March 2,2007

In response ICANN has issued a second letter [PDF, 288K] dated 2 March 2007 setting out additional breaches of the Registrar Agreement. In that letter ICANN describes RegisterFly's statement that refusal to comply is evidence of customer service as "preposterous."

RegisterFly's continuing breaches of the RAA are serious and will be pursued.

ICANN's primary concern is to do what it can to protect registrant and related data.

ICANN has provided notice that it will file a suit against RegisterFly in the United States District Court for the Central District of California seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) requiring RegisterFly to turn over the data requested and to compel an emergency audit of its books and records.

In addition to this legal action, ICANN today convened a telephone conference among those needed to implement a plan that will help cease unintended deletions. The participants were registries holding RegisterFly names: Afilias (.info), GNR (.name), NeuStar (.biz), VeriSign (.com, .net), RegisterFly backend services provider Tucows and eNom (for which RegisterFly was a reseller) as well as representatives of RegisterFly.

The Registries involved have agreed to move any RegisterFly names in Redemption Grace Period* status into Server-Delete-Prohibited status. This will prevent them from being deleted from the registry and becoming available for re-registration by others. ICANN commends and encourages this example of cooperation to protect registrant data.

ICANN will provide further updates as new information is available and action taken. [UNQUOTE]
ebiz1 Registered | 2007-04-17 13:02:25
I said this in the forum, but if all of you want guaranteed justice, then the FTC is who you want involved. Sure, go ahead with the lawsuits as well, but if we can get the attention of the FTC, they WILL shut registerfly down -- completely -- and seize all their assets, not just what a judge sees as fair. The FTC does it with mail fraud and other schemes all the time. It's their job.

You can file a complaint here:
http://www.ftc.gov/
nicola Registered | 2007-04-18 02:46:18
check out all the complaints at complaints.com (although they seem older)

also looks like ICANN stopped allowing comments on there blogs? is this something new? I used to be able to comment, but now says 'Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.'

http://blog.icann.org/?p=88
captainproton Registered | 2007-04-17 17:07:41
Somebody was posting troll comments on the ICAN blog. But closing the blog doesn't seem to matter as they have seemed to stop updating the RF situation anyway.
LegalWorker - *NEWS:-COURT GRANTS TRO Registered | 2007-04-18 02:06:17
*ICANN's Application for Temporary Restraining Order Against RegisterFly Has Been Granted

17 April 2007

Marina del Rey, CA — RegisterFly has been ordered by US Federal Court Judge, Manuel J. Real, to hand over to ICANN current and accurate data for all of its domain names now that ICANN's application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against RegisterFly was granted yesterday.

Under the TRO, RegisterFly is also obliged to provide this data every seven days, plus immediately allow ICANN staff access to the company's records and books in order to perform an audit.

"We ask RegisterFly and its management to co-operate fully with the order," said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN President and CEO.

The TRO, entered by the Judge Real in the US Federal Court located in the Central District of California on Monday April 16, 2007, encompasses all domains registered by RegisterFly customers, including those registered under any proxy registration service, such as the company's own "ProtectFly." The Court has also scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing for April 26, 2007, which, if ICANN prevails, will extend the force and effect of the TRO for a longer period of time.

ICANN's repeated requests for accurate registrant data from RegisterFly were initially refused by the company and then later partially-granted, although ICANN has remained concerned over the accuracy of some of the data, finding a significant portion of it deficient.

With current and accurate registrant data, ICANN will be in a position to initiate a bulk transfer to another registrar, either with RegisterFly's cooperation while the company remains an ICANN-accredited registrar, or unilaterally if RegisterFly's accreditation is terminated.

In addition to seeking a Preliminary Injunction, ICANN will continue pursuing RegisterFly in the Central District of California for, among other things, breach of contract.

The TRO is available at: http://www.icann.org/legal/icann-v-registerfly/icann-v-registerfly-revised-tro-16apr07.pdf

Aside from the lawsuit, ICANN has also initiated a review of its Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) in an effort to reduce the possibility of this situation being repeated in future.

About ICANN:

ICANN is an internationally organized, public benefit non-profit responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers.

These include domain names (like .ORG, .MUSEUM and country codes like .UK), as well as the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols. Computers use these identifiers to reach each other over the Internet. Careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet's operation, so ICANN's global stakeholders meet regularly to develop policies that ensure the Internet's ongoing security and stability

THIS IS GREAT NEWS FOR ALL!
captainproton Registered | 2007-04-18 02:50:50
Did anybody notice that this is the second time that ICANN only does something *after* Clark Dummit takes action?
mikefast Registered | 2007-04-18 14:29:58
I believe ICANN is in violation of their policy requiring registrars to "... be given the opportunity to correct any innaccurate contact data ..."
The following is from emails sent by Registerfly on a regular basis and I have dozens of them. I have contacted ICANN and told them that I am unable to correct the contact info on several of my domains and they have done NOTHING about it. Perhaps this could be something to add to the lawsuit as a breech of ICANN duties. This is what the emails all state:

[color=red][b]...ICANN, the organization responsible for the stability of the Internet,
requires that each domain name registrant be given the opportunity to
correct any inaccurate contact data (WHOIS data) associated with a domain
name registration. Our records for your domain are as follows ...[/b][/color]:
ICANN is obliged to make good on this but they refuse to do anything and when I reported this breech to them they just told me to contact Registerfly and did nothing to act correct the situation. I think this should be added to the lawsuit. This is a very obvious example of ICANN failing to do their duty and the registration fees (25 cents per domain?) paid to ICANN are supposed be used by them to set up some sort of enforcement cvapabilities that would enable them to take action when a company like Registerfly does not allow domain name owners to correct errors in contact details for the domains. Why isn't ICANN taking action on this?
freddieb - Action is required Registered | 2007-04-19 03:30:12
When are you people on RF's doorstep, so to speak, gonna do something?

We foreign customers of RF are stymied, our hands are tied, while all RF USA customers are sitting back and letting it happen. Al Capone/Jesse James/ et al all over again.

Why can't the people in USA do something?

We see all the complaints on here and no one has taken steps to stop this thing happening. RF are still ripping people off, taking their money without providing the goods. Most countries would have had this stopped months ago.

Complacency by folk in USA is allowing Kevin Medina to cotinue his illegal activities.
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