Is the Dept of Justice (Vic) in the funeral business?

No, I don’t think so!

But as you can see from the WhoIs extract below, they are the official registrant of the domain name ParadiseFunerals.com.au.

So there are two possible explanations here

Firstly, it is a long standing error in the registry database, and there is a completely different registrant. Someone has been paying the renewal fees though. Who?

or;

Secondly, it is yet another case of Unauthorised Business Use (UBU).

Either way, if I were the Dept of Justice, I would be asking for a “please explain” as well as an urgent fix from the regulator auDA. There are many similar domain registrations under their ABN.

It may also pay for the DoJ to contact the registrar Domain Central – part of the Namespace Group.

12 thoughts on “Is the Dept of Justice (Vic) in the funeral business?

  • December 9, 2021 at 7:07 am
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    Domain Central had huge problems for years of wrong information showing on registrations when I had domains with them.
    That’s why I left them as their back end was a mess for domain owners.
    I wouldn’t mind betting this could be the case with Dept of Justice.

    • December 9, 2021 at 8:05 am
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      Domain Central was a basketcase.

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    • December 9, 2021 at 8:32 am
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      I remember your issues Don. I’m surprised you stayed with them for so long!

      I think you may be right on this one.

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  • December 9, 2021 at 8:28 am
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    Sigh

    DoJ Victoria has powers of search and seizure and this includes intellectual property assets.

    Consumer Affairs Victoria is a division of DoJ. The most plausible explanation is that the names have been seized by DoJ in connected with investigations by CAV.

    Thanks for playing.

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    • December 9, 2021 at 10:39 am
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      DOJ can ask auDA to delete or suspend the name. Why would they bother seizing the name because of a CAV investigation and then allowing it to remain online. Sounds like a very thin excuse to me.

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      • December 9, 2021 at 10:53 am
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        I did a quick check of the first WhoIs record I could find on DomainTools. Same two parties.

        Screenshot here

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        • December 9, 2021 at 11:59 am
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          It’s there 10 year anniversary since first registered to them as the original registrant?

          Congrats DOJ for 10 years in the Funeral Business!

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  • December 9, 2021 at 9:09 am
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    auDA should implement a Whois Data Reminder similar to that of the .com world where registrants get an annual email asking them to check their registrant details.

    Auto renewals should also send out an email before renewal with registrant details so they can be confirmed. A lot of registrants would have no idea of their whois data and just blindly renew.

    Given that most registrars are already set up for the .com data reminder, they should have no problems implementing it for .au. It’s a simple solution.

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    • December 9, 2021 at 9:17 am
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      Good points Nobby.

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    • December 9, 2021 at 9:22 am
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      “auDA should implement a Whois Data Reminder similar to that of the .com world where registrants get an annual email asking them to check their registrant details.

      Auto renewals should also send out an email before renewal with registrant details so they can be confirmed. A lot of registrants would have no idea of their whois data and just blindly renew.

      Given that most registrars are already set up for the .com data reminder, they should have no problems implementing it for .au. It’s a simple solution”

      Great idea!

      I formally asked them years ago and they did not want to do it.

      Why would auDA and Registrars not want to do this for the .au namespace?

      Could it expose the 10+ % of the whole .au namespace which has invalid/ineligible registrants listed? That is over 300,000 .au domains which are actually in policy breach …. and that is 300,000 x domain name fees revenue……often renewed for years… Massive money for auDA, Afilias and Registrars maybe they don’t want to lose?

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  • December 9, 2021 at 10:33 am
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    There is a auDA policy that deals with auto renewals but I can’t remember ever getting an auto renewal notice containing whois data. Most registrars opt for 4.3 as an excuse to renew. This is just another failure by the regulator to enforce the rules and the registrars to bend the rules.

    https://www.auda.org.au/policy/2013-01-clarification-auto-renewal-services-under-code-practice

    4. IMPLEMENTATION BY REGISTRAR OF AUTO-RENEWAL SERVICE

    4.1 The registrar must gain the explicit agreement of the registrant before implementing an auto-renewal service for the registrant’s domain name(s). The registrar must not include auto-renewal in its terms and conditions without allowing the registrant to opt-out of the service, either at the time of domain name registration or at the time the auto-renewal service is introduced.

    4.2 Where a registrant has opted-in to an auto-renewal service, the registrar must send an email notification to the registrant at least 30 days prior to the date that the domain name is due to be auto-renewed, which includes the following:

    a) the date that the registrant’s domain name is due to be auto-renewed, and information about how to opt-out of the service prior to that date;

    b) an extract of the current WHOIS information for the domain name, or a link to the WHOIS information for the domain name, with a request that the registrant check the WHOIS information for accuracy;

    c) information about how the registrant can update the WHOIS information for the domain name if required; and

    d) a statement that by allowing the domain name to be automatically renewed, the registrant warrants that the WHOIS information is correct and they continue to satisfy the Domain Name Eligibility and Allocation Policy Rules for Open Second Level Domains.

    4.3 The registrar is not required to obtain a positive response from the registrant before proceeding to auto-renew the domain name. However, where the registrant has expressed their desire to opt-out of the service prior to the auto-renewal date, the registrar must make reasonable commercial endeavours to ensure that they do not auto-renew the domain name.

    4.4 When advertising an auto-renewal service offering, and at any point where a registrant is able to opt-in to the service, the registrar must comply with the advertising principles and guidelines outlined in sections 7 and 8 of the Code of Practice.

    4.5 Where a registrar becomes aware that a registrant is no longer eligible to hold their domain name for any reason, they must ensure that the registrant’s domain name is not auto-renewed even if the registrant has opted-in to the service.

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  • December 11, 2021 at 11:09 am
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    How many auDA Registrars breach this policy every day?

    What has auDA done about these daily auDA Registrar breaches?

    How does the auDA, Afilias Registrar registrant eligibility verification work for new registrations, Change of Registrants, Registrant updates and the renewals exactly?

    It seems to be a massive ongoing issue with perhaps millions of historical breaches of the policy over many years and still occurring each day now.

    https://www.auda.org.au/policy/2013-01-clarification-auto-renewal-services-under-code-practice

    “4.5 Where a registrar becomes aware that a registrant is no longer eligible to hold their domain name for any reason, they must ensure that the registrant’s domain name is not auto-renewed even if the registrant has opted-in to the service.”

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