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Unsolicited international mail sent from the Domain Registry of America, which some may consider to be an attempt at domain slamming.  Domain slamming is a form of scam in which an ISP or domain name registrar attempts to trick customers of different companies into switching from their own ISP/registrar to the scamming ISP/registrar, under the pretense that the customer is simply renewing their subscription to their old ISP/registrar. This may also be considered spamming when the scam is in the form of a letter or e-mail.

Domain Registry of America Warning - An example of slamming is from Domain Registry of America.  Clients get these all the time.  Basically, it is from a Canadian based company (see Internic Alpha list) called NameJuice (See Internic WhoIs) that has business mailing addresses in New York (USA), London (England), and Melbourne (Australia).  They send an invoice looking form to domain owners.  Please take a moment to review the scanned copy of a letter received from Domain Registry of America (DROA):  Front / Back.

Many of the users registering domains have received these letters and in at least a few instances, the recipients were duped into thinking that this was the "official" renewal notice for their domain.

If your domain is registered with another service other than DROA, and you receive this letter - please disregard and discard the letter.  DROA has been using this deceptive tactic for several years now, causing many people to inadvertently transfer their domain to the DROA service, sometimes having to pay a higher annual fee per domain for the transfer.

Take a moment to read the letter carefully.  You will see that the notice is an offer to switch registrars and not an official renewal notice.

Further investigation of the fine print on the back of the document reveals that by transferring your domain to DROA, you are also allowing them to use the contact information they collect from you as they see fit to use by themselves and their "partners" for "targeted marketing".    Marketing to your contact information can also occur after you have ended your agreement with DROA.

When it concerns something as important as your domain name, please read carefully anything that is mailed or emailed to you. 

FTC Consumer Bulletin
On December 23, 2003 the Federal Trade Commission requested that a federal district court enjoin Domain Registry of America, Inc., from making misrepresentations in the marketing of its domain name registration services and require it to pay redress to consumers.  See "Court Bars Canadian Company from Misleading Consumers in Marketing of Internet Domain Name Services. Stipulated Order Requires Payment of Consumer Redress, Prohibits Future Deceptive Conduct" where more information about the complaint can be found on the FTC website at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/12/domainreg.htm

What You Can Do
You are advised to file a mail fraud complaint with the United States Postal Inspection Service at http://www.usps.com/  and decline any and all registrar transfer notices you may receive.

In addition to the Postal Service, the FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov.

The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies worldwide.

Note: On December 23, 2003, A court order was issued by the United States District Court on behalf of the FTC prohibiting Domain Registry of America from engaging in similar conduct in the future, and is subject to stringent monitoring by the Commission to ensure its compliance with the court order. It is very important that you contact the FTC to notify them about the ongoing activity in violation of the court order.

Many Names, Same Scam
Please note that Domain Registry of America also operates under the following names and most likely many more.

Domain Registry of Canada
Domain Registry of Europe
Domain Registry of Australia
Brandon Gray Internet Services Inc. dba Namejuice.com