Attention Technology Reporters:

Namescout.com Warns Against Dot-EU Fraud

Offers five-point guide to fraud avoidance

Wilmington, DE / October 1, 2002 - Namescout.com, one of the world's leading and fastest-growing domain registrars, joins those warning against unscrupulous domain registration practices in the prelude to the formal opening of the .eu market next year.

"In other parts of the world at other times, there have been apparent instances where some operators have taken advantage of client interest in soon-to-be-opened markets. There are indications of this in the .eu market, potentially on an even larger scale given the size of the .eu market and the long period until the .eu market formally opens," said Rob Hall, President of Namescout.com. "We want to assist clients who wish to place advance applications for .eu names and who wish to avoid being taken in by unscrupulous or fraudulent practices."

As Namescout.com has done in the introduction of other domains around the world, it (along with other reputable registrars) is offering clients the ability to apply for .eu names pending the formal opening of the .eu market. Namescout.com is accepting these applications at www.namescout.com, and handles them following careful and transparent practices developed in several other markets.

Namescout.com offers the following five-question test to determine the potential for fraud or other practices of which clients should be wary:

  1. Are you being asked now for an up-front or non-refundable fee? (These are sometimes termed registration fees, booking fees, application fees or administration fees. Applying now at Namescout.com is free; there is no fee for applying. Namescout.com takes registration and payment information at the time of application, but only executes the credit card charges when and if applications can be turned into actual registrations. It will be several months, at least, until anyone can process actual .eu registrations. But applying now is risk free.)
  2. Do you pay whether or not your application for a .eu name is actually successfully registered? (Some names are applied for more than once, or turn out to be unavailable for other reasons. Namescout.com only charges if your application for .eu registration is successful.)
  3. Can you cancel or amend your application? (Namescout.com allows clients to cancel or modify .eu applications at any time until .eu registrations are actually processed.)
  4. Is the "registrar" actually accredited by ICANN or any other major domain registry anywhere in the world? (The European registry is only now being set up, so no .eu registrars have yet been formally accredited. Namescout.com is accredited by ICANN - the global registry authority that controls .com .net .org .biz .info and .name - as well as by several of the world's other leading registries such .us, .ca and .au. We know the registration business, we abide by established registry rules, and we have hundreds of thousands of happy customers.)
  5. If trademarks issues are a concern to you, are the registrar's systems capable of handling intellectual property applications? (Most registries operate a sunrise registration period for qualified trademark owners. Namescout.com's application systems ask for the trademark and other information necessary to protect your rights.)
"Domain names have become an extremely important business and personal tool" said Hall. "The .eu space is a very welcome evolution in the Internet market, and we wish to do everything possible to allow companies and individuals and organizations to benefit from it, legitimately."

www.Namescout.com and its affiliated companies have long been at the forefront of Internet development, offering industry-leading full customer service and a full suite of domain registration, hosting, email and related services. ICANN-accredited www.Namescout.com is ranked by the authoritative State of the Domain report as one of the world's fastest-growing registrars, and is among the world's Top 50 registrars. Namescout.com is the world's first accredited dot-name registrar, is among the world's first accredited dot-US registrars and among the accredited dot-au registrars. Its sister company is Canada's first dot-ca accredited registrar and is Canada's leading dot-ca registrar. The companies serve customers around the globe from offices in North America and the Caribbean, and are the world's only registrar group simultaneously accredited by ICANN, NeuStar, CIRA, auDA and the Global Name Registry.

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For more information, or to arrange a media interview, please visit www.namescout.com or contact Rick Anderson at rick@namescout.comrick@namescout.com or (613) 860-0209.