|
Class Action - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE! |
| Print |
|
E-mail
|
|
Wednesday, 28 March 2007 |
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
http://www.registerflylawsuit.com
RegisterFly Scandal
Culminates in Class Action Lawsuit
More than 75,000
individuals have already lost their Internet domain names registered through
RegisterFly.com. New class action lawsuit seeks to protect up to a million more
from the same fate.
Winston‑Salem,
NC - March 28, 2007 - Yesterday, a U.S.
District Court judge unsealed a class action lawsuit against Internet domain registrar RegisterFly along with the
corporation charged with accreditation and oversight of registrars, the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN"), among
others. The lawsuit (Anne Martinez v RegisterFly, ICANN et. al.) filed by
Attorney E. Clarke Dummit alleges that RegisterFly has systematically defrauded
its customers who attempted to register or renew Internet domain names, causing
them to lose their domain names, finances, and even entire businesses. The
lawsuit was initially sealed due to fears of retribution by RegisterFly.com
towards plaintiff Anne Martinez for filing the suit, but since then other concerns have become more pressing, and
the case was opened to the public.
Lead
Plaintiff Anne Martinez fears that RegisterFly is likely to cause the loss of
her website GoCertify.com, which is the primary source of support for her and
her children. The GoCertify.com domain, which had a scheduled expiration date
of March 18, 2007, according to Registerfly, could not be renewed (even though
Anne was charged for the service of having that done), was refused transfer to
a different registrar, and has had Anne's ownership information completely
removed or concealed from public databases as well as made inaccessible to her. Martinez says,
"if Medina
illegally shuts down my registration, I could end up losing my business that
has supported me for years, and even my home, and I am only one of thousands of
people in this same situation. I can not just stand by and let this happen."
Long
before the allegations of misuse of RegisterFly funds by company owner Kevin
Medina for such things as escort service; a liposuction procedure; a penthouse apartment in Miami, Florida; and a
$6,000 Chihuahua dog, RegisterFly had already earned a growing
reputation for failing to renew or transfer domain names, respond to customer
support issues, and double or triple charge for services never delivered. It
was clear that RegisterFly was in trouble, and the accreditation agency of
registrars, ICANN, knew it, but ICANN did not perform its duty to protect the
public and continued to accredit RegisterFly and allow it to perform as a
registrar.
In fact, ICANN,
which collects a fee for every domain sold through its accredited registrars, did
not give notice of termination of ICANN's accreditation of RegisterFly until
the day AFTER attorney Dummit served ICANN with this class action lawsuit. This
provides further evidence that it is time for the American Legal System to step
in and reign in this outrageous, illegal behavior that has already harmed many
people around the world, and threatens to damage many more.
"I only
hope that this situation can be brought under control before it becomes even
worse, and that the agents responsible for all of this harm and heartache will
be held accountable for what they have done," says Martinez.
|
.
