It appears that there is a new (to me anyway) scheme where Chinese registrars are trying to trick people into buying unnecessary domain name registrations.

For instance, if you owned the registration for acme.com, they would contact you and say that a certain person or company wants to register acme.com.cn, acme.net.cn, acme.asia and so on. They will tell you that your Internet "brand" may be in jeopardy and the new registrations may cause confusion among your clients.

Basically, they want you to become so concerned that you will register these domains yourself to protect them. They will no doubt offer to register the domains for you, for a very high price. The truth is, it is not something you would normally be concerned with unless you are a world-wide conglomerate that could lose tons of money if someone else had the domains in question and marketed them successfully.

If you are concerned and want to take the names off of the market, just go to enom.com, or godaddy.com and register the names for cheap.

To anyone with domain registrations: Keep your domains "Locked" and in "Auto Renew" status. Also, keep a GOOD password at your registrar. As long as you do this, your domains should be safe. If you are contacted via email or snail mail and told that your domain is about to expire and you are "in danger" of losing your domain, you can conclude it is pretty much B.S.

Here is the email I received (the domain is private so it shows as xxxxxx.com):

From: xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:xxxxxxxxxx]

Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2009 8:03 PM

To: xxxx@xxxxxx.com

Subject: Domain Dispute and Registration

To whom it may concern: 2009-5-29

We are a domain name registration service company in Asia,

Last week we received a formal application submited by Justin Lin who wanted

to use the keyword "xxxxxxx" to register the Internet Brand and with

suffix such as .cn /.com.cn /.net.cn/.hk/ .asia/ domain names.

After our initial examination, we found that these domain names to be

applied for registration are same as your domain name and trademark. We

aren't sure whether you have any relation with him. Because these domain

names would produce possible dispute, now we have hold down his

registration, but if we do not get your company's an reply in the next 5

working days, we will approve his company's application

In order to handle this issue better, Please contact us by Fax ,Telephone or

Email as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

Checking Department

Tel: xxxxxxxxxxxx

Fax: xxxxxxxxxxxx

Email:@xxxxxxxx.com

Website: xxxxxxxx.com

Mail No.:2017930

_____

I replied:

Greetings,

In answer to your inquiry, I am not associated with Justin Lin. The registration of any domain name containing "xxxxxx" will create a conflict I believe. I have had the .com registration since 2005 and have no plans on releasing it as it is also my registered trade name.

Feel free to contact me with any further questions.

Regards,

________________________________________________

Their Reply:

Thanks for your prompt reply.As far as we know, Justin Lin want to apply for the following names

xxxxxx.cn
xxxxxx.com.cn
xxxxxx.asia
xxxxxx.net.cn
xxxxxx.org.cn
And Internet Brand "xxxxxx ".

You would know domain name takes open registration, this is international domain name registration principle. So Justin Lin has right to register it.
If you think his registration will confuse your clients and harm your profits, we can send an application document to you and help you protect these domains within our approving period. This is a better way to prevent domain name dispute. If you think his application will not affect your company, you can give up, we will finish his registration. Hope get your decision as soon as possible so that we can handle the next step

Best regards

Your Sincerely xxxxxxx

_________________________________________________

My Reply:

Dear xxxxxx,
Could you please send me the forms to protect the domains?
Thank you,
_________________________________________________

I suspect I will receive a reply that will include an offer to register the domains for some unreal amount of money. Stay tuned...

Update
I received the pricing list. It is as follows:

Their reply:

Dear XXXXXX ,
I send you the application form attached this email.you need to finsh this application form and singback to me, we shall send a proforma invoice with our bank details for your making remittance. After receiving your payment, we shall make relative domain registration and necessary connection for you so that any person in future to visit these websites which will be automoticly transfered into your current main websites.
besides,we shall issue an internet domain certificate which will protect you own these domains.
It shall be highly appreciated if you would submit your application for register these domain as early as possible.
if you have any question,please feel free to contact with us.

Internet Brand Application	Brand: XXXXXX	口100USD/1year
Domain Name Application	xxxxxx.asia	口40USD/1year
	xxxxxx.cn	口30USD/1year
	xxxxxx.com.cn	口30USD/1year
	xxxxxx.net.cn	口30USD/1year
	xxxxxx.org.cn	口30USD/1year

END~

Domain prices are not too bad, considering that .cn and .asia extensions are pricey anyway. The biggie is the "Brand application" fee of $100.00 No one can guarantee your brand but you and a trademark attorney. So the $100.00 to them is really free money from their perspective.

The big deal here is this: I do not need to register the .cn versions to keep my business safe as I only do business in the USA. So it could be a big out-of-pocket expense for someone who does not know better. Having the .com alone is huge! Having the .net and .org is a good compliment but the others are really trash to me; unless of course I was marketing in China or Asia.

If you need any more information or have questions, please send them to the editor ed[at]rippedoffonline.com or leave your comments below.

Guy

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