] Hi Don,
] 
] Perhaps in my vehemence I failed to get across my point.  Frustrating as it
] is, I accept that junk mail is here to stay.  My issue is with the (to me)
] deceptive content of the mail (they were faxes) I and my clients received
] from Internet Names Group.  I'm in the industry - I know damn well that it
] costs nothing to do what they're offering at $1000 plus the costs of
] registration.
] 
] I'm objecting to two things - their continuing attempts to rip off an
] under-informed public, and the fact that they seem to have unrestricted
] access to a database of domain names and expiry dates on which to base their
] spam.
] 
] Ron Stark

(1)
The ACCC are in charge of policing misleading and deceptive conduct.

The ACCC issued a media release on 31 January 2001 about the sorts of
questions users of the domain name system should ask when registering
a domain name or renewing their licence.  The release may be found at
http://www.accc.gov.au/media/mediar.htm under the heading "ACCC Calls
for Caution in Domain Name Renewals".  Or you can go directly to
http://203.6.251.7/accc.internet/digest/view_media.cfm?RecordID=247

auDA has also put out a couple of media releases at www.auda.org.au :
     * 3 April 2001 - Domain Name Renewal - Consumer Alert
     * 23 January 2001 - Domain Name Resellers - Consumer Alert

If you just want to let the ACCC know quickly about something you think
is a scam, you can use the ACCC web-based "Slam-a-Cyberscam" to help
give the ACCC an idea of the size/scope of the problem (so the ACCC
can discern trends).

But if you actually know someone who has lost money which they wish they
hadn't paid in a situation like this, it would be very helpful if they
could report that to a local ACCC office in their state so that the ACCC
can investigate in more detail.

Or if you just want to lodge a complaint and have thought about
exactly why these faxes were misleading and deceptive, then go
ahead and tell the ACCC.

(2)
In past years, AUNIC data was available in bulk by ftp.  For the last
12 months (since 1 Sept 2000) AUNIC bulk data has NOT been publically
available at all.  For a year or so before that, it was sporadically
available at various times.

But note that AUNIC does not have (and has never had) information about
expiry dates.  The only place which stores expiry dates for com.au names
is INWW/Melbourne IT.  Earlier this year (IIRC), INWW tightened up access
to expiry information.

As has been said before on this list, that information which was available
in the past got out and cannot be taken back.

But in both cases, database information is no longer available in bulk.

__________________________________________________________________________
 David Keegel <djk&#167;cyber.com.au>  URL: http://www.cyber.com.au/users/djk/
Cybersource P/L: Unix Systems Administration and TCP/IP network management

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