Breach of Registrar Agreement by Crazy Domains

Posted by on 11 June 2013

auDA has found that accredited registrar Crazy Domains Pty Ltd has breached its obligations under the Registrar Agreement to comply with the .au Domain Name Suppliers’ Code of Practice and all applicable laws.

It has recently come to auDA’s attention that since late October 2012:

  • the business conducted at the Crazy Domains-branded website at www.crazydomains.com.au has been owned and operated by or on behalf of Dreamscape Networks FZ LLC, a foreign company registered and resident in Dubai; and

  • customers who have registered a .au domain name through the Crazy Domains-branded website at www.crazydomains.com.au have entered into a contract with Dreamscape Networks FZ LLC and not Crazy Domains Pty Ltd, and have been issued with invoices which are not proper Tax Invoices for the purposes of GST legislation.

After auDA advised Crazy Domains Pty Ltd of its concerns and investigation, Crazy Domains Pty Ltd advised auDA in late April that Dreamscape Networks FZ LLC is one of its appointed resellers.

In auDA’s view, Crazy Domains Pty Ltd has permitted Dreamscape Networks FZ LLC to trade as a reseller using the domain name crazydomains.com.au and the website www.crazydomains.com.au in a way which would lead a reasonable member of the public seeking to register a .au domain name to believe that they are dealing with the accredited registrar Crazy Domains Pty Ltd and not the reseller Dreamscape Networks FZ LLC.

auDA considers that Crazy Domains Pty Ltd’s and Dreamscape Networks FZ LLC's conduct in this regard is likely to mislead consumers and  contravenes the Australian Consumer Law and that Crazy Domains Pty Ltd is involved in the contraventions by Dreamscape Networks FZ LLC.

auDA also considers that both Crazy Domains Pty Ltd and Dreamscape Networks FZ LLC have breached clause 7.2 of the .au Domain Name Suppliers’ Code of Practice (2004-04), by not supplying information about products that is clear, accurate, complete and not confusing, misleading or deceptive.  Under the terms of the Registrar Agreement, accredited registrars are responsible for the conduct of their appointed resellers.

auDA has issued a formal Notice of Breach to Crazy Domains Pty Ltd requiring it to ensure that its reseller Dreamscape Networks FZ LLC takes action to correct the misleading nature of the Crazy Domains-branded website at www.crazydomains.com.au.

auDA is continuing its investigation of a number of other possible breaches by Crazy Domains Pty Ltd of its Registrar Agreement.