[ga] Rebuttal (Re: Increase in renewal fees in bad faith/fraudulent by .NU and .MD domains.)

["J. William Semich" <bill@mail.nic.nu>]

Matt Hooker:

.NU Domain sent out five (5) notifications to customers of the impending
price increase for renewals, which brings the renewal price up to the same
level as the current registration price of $60 for two years. We postponed
doing this for some months after the registration price increase was
implemented.

Below is a sample of one of the price increase notices, in which we give
customers the opportunity to renew at the older price.

Matt, this is the first I have heard from you on this issue. Perhaps you
would like to communicate with me or the .NU support staff privately
concerning your financial issues?

At $30 per year retail, up from $25 when we launched four years ago, .NU
Domain is still one of the lowest priced open ccTLDs on the Internet, with
the highest quality of service. I can't speak for .MD

Bill Semich
.NU Domain
http://www.nunames.nu
"Now Accepting Multilingual UNICODE Domain Name Registrations"

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 02 Jan 2001 12:37:13 -0500
From: payments@mail.nic.nu (Payments)
Subject: Act Now - Last Year's .NU Renewal Price Extended for 10 Days
To: XXXXXXX@XXXXXXX.nu



SPECIAL 10 DAY OFFER - RENEW YOUR .NU DOMAIN AT LAST YEAR'S PRICES

On January 1, 2001, the standard 2 year renewal cost of a .NU Domain 
increased from last's $45 price to this year's $60 price. 


We announced the price increase last month and gave customers a 2 week 
period to process renewals at the old price. But many customers have 
contacted us to say they did not receive the notification until 
it was too late.

So we have decided to extend the offer to renew your .NU domain name
at last year's lower prices for another 10 days - until January 12, 2001.

And, for that same limited time, we are offering a special 1 year renewal 
for only $30.

The offer is only good through January 12, 2001.

So, whether your web address (domain name) expires next week, next month, 
or even next year, now is the time to act. No matter when your registration 
expires, you can renew early at the old prices today.

Renew your .NU domain today at last year's price by visiting our website at:

http://www.nunames.nu/cgi-bin/secure/renew/

And remember, if you signed up for a free 3 month trial of a .NU
multilingual Web address (domain name) you need to renew that now also, 
and you can still do so at last year's price.

If you have any questions, please e-mail us at: support@mail.nic.nu

Thank you, and Happy New Year from .NU Domain.

	
----------------------------------------------------------------------

 At 12:25 PM 1/19/01 -0800, Matt Hooker wrote:
>January 19, 2001
>
>To: ICANN
>
>To: Bill Semich, .NU Domain
>
>Re: Increase in renewal fees for domains by .NU and
>.MD  Registrars - clearly in bad faith, probably
>fraudulent, "blackmail" type of behavior - that must
>be regulated and prohibited by ICANN, failing that by
>the U.S. Government.
>
>Hello Bill,
>
>I've got a big problem with .Nu domains:
>
>When I and my company first bought some .NU domains,
>we entered into a contract to pay that price ($25) per
>year for as long as we wished to own each domain. We
>did not agree to rent the domains from you, nor to
>give you a blank check to raise the prices in the
>future.
>
>I have recently been informed that you have raised
>prices, and will not allow us to continue to renew
>each year at $25 per year. I believe that this is in
>bad faith, and is a breech of contract, and perhaps
>fraudulent.
>
>Please respond as to how you feel you are legally and
>ethically entitled to change your prices for an
>existing customer. This is an issue that must be
>addressed by ICANN and by the U.S. Government. Surely,
>neither .NU nor any other organization should be
>allowed to "hold hostage", as it were, a domain by
>raising the price upon renewal. This is, in our
>opinion, akin to blackmail. We have expended
>considerable resources, including time and money, for
>each of our .NU domains, and we believe it to be in
>very bad faith for you to raise renewal prices. We are
>a "captive audience", indeed much more than an
>"audience" - a customer in face, and you hold a
>monopoly position. The .MD people are trying to do the
>same thing to us, and with a much bigger price
>increase. This kind of fraudulent practice in bad
>faith must be clearly prohibited, and I call on ICANN
>to prohibit this before the U.S. Congress does.
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Matt Hooker
>President
>Strategic Investment Management Inc.
>
>
>
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. 
>http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
>
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