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Topic: Register.com Class-Action Suit (Read 785 times) |
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Kalkor
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Register.com Class-Action Suit
« on: 2003-08-30 17:36:05 » |
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Below you will find an exerpt from a PDF sent to me by Register.com, explaining a class-action suit against them and naming me as a potential recipient of whatever settlement is agreed on. After that, you will see my reply. I intend to send what is written below to all parties involved, including the judge, if I am able. However, I would like to make sure I am not shooting myself in the foot here, legally. Any comments?
Here goes:
Michael Zurakov (“Plaintiff”) filed a lawsuit (the “Lawsuit”) based on Register.com’s past practice of initially pointing newly registered domain names to a “Coming Soon” Page, which informs Internet users that the domain name has been recently registered by Register.com and provides hyperlinks to some of Register.com’s services, as well as the services of others (the “Coming Soon Page”). Plaintiff alleges that Register.com’s pointing of domain names to the Coming Soon Page was not adequately disclosed to him, and improperly deprived him of the benefits of the domain name he registered.
Register.com denies it violated any law or did anything wrong. It claims that it provided the Coming Soon Page as a benefit to registrants, because it allowed other Internet users to know that a domain name had been registered. It claims further that its conduct was adequately disclosed through its website and that it was acting in accordance with standard industry practices.
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This is one of the most heinous examples of frivolous litigation I have ever had the misfortune of witnessing. I have been listed as a Class Member, and would like to opt out of that position. I will have NOTHING to do with this idiot's attempt to tarnish the name of Register.com and indeed the entire United States Judicial System.
To begin with, I agree wholeheartedly with Register.com stating that it violated no laws. Any registrar worth its salt provides a free page holder for a newly registered domain name. This is not just industry standard practice, it is common courtesy. That Michael Zurakov did not realize this shows only his ignorance in the ethical and technical details of the venture he embarked on, that of purchasing or registering a domain name. Obviously, this man had no idea what he planned on DOING with his domain name, or how to do it. For a domain name to have ANY value, it must be useable. The typical ways domains become usable in the hands of their owners is for them to be pointed to a physical server on the global internet that can provide web or email services for the domain. If he had access to a physical server, he would have instructed Register.com to point it there, and they would have complied quickly, accurately, and courteously. Instead, since during the process of registering he did not specify a location to point it to, they used a page holder. This is indeed industry standard practice and should be commended instead of punished.
Register.com is the first registrar I ever used after NSI lost their exclusive rights to the registration business. I researched extensively and they seemed like the best choice for their ease of use and the plethora of services they offered free. I can point virtual domains to as many disparate servers as I want! I can specify my own authoritative DNS server! I can use THEIR DNS server, and specify my own C-names!!!! This company provides services far more valuable than most other registrars, and without the draconian evil of NSI (Refer to the NSI/AOL domain theft cases) or the high prices of some other custom registration package providers.
In conclusion, I would like to state firmly that you can count me out of this lawsuit. Register.com has provided me with nothing less than exemplary service. Anyone who would file a lawsuit of this kind against this company obviously does not posess the technical expertise necessary to own something like a domain name, or indeed even a computer, in my opinion. This seems to me like the petty act of a litigious jerk who cannot take responsibility for his own actions or his own education. If you are going to use a technical product, it is in your own best interest to learn HOW to use it. Awarding the man a settlement in this case will most definitely NOT teach him this valuable lesson; quite the contrary! Awarding this man a settlement in this case will only teach him that it pays to be litigious and to discard personal accountability. Shame on anyone who encourages him, and shame on anyone who agrees with him in this matter.
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RavenBlack
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So very alive, and full of goo.
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Re:Register.com Class-Action Suit
« Reply #1 on: 2003-08-30 18:06:18 » |
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The only thing I can think of that might make the lawsuit make sense is if it wasn't a newly registered domain but rather a domain transfer - at that point, having his site suddenly replaced with theirs once the change finishes propagation, and not being able to put it back without waiting through another propagation, could easily have been a nasty surprise, and something that they shouldn't do (in the event of a domain name hosting transfer they really should copy as many of the previous settings as possible, by default, and certainly not override with their own page).
Excepting if that's the case, I agree with what you've written. Not qualified to comment on the legal foot-shooting though.
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