While this article is a good read it is over two years old. This information may be out of date or not relevant, links to external sites may be broken, etc. Please let us know (contact or in the comments) if something is wrong or broken.

Buyer Beware: Domain Registry of America

If you have a website, chances are you have received a letter from the Domain Registry of America. It looks very official, and uses vague language that suggests you should pay them so your domain name does not expire.

If you have a website, chances are you have received a letter from the Domain Registry of America. With terms like “America” and “Domain Name Expiration Notice”, it looks very official, and uses vague language that suggests you should pay them so your domain name does not expire.

Sample Domain Registry of America letter
Sample DROA letter. Click for full size.

If you read the fine print though, you will see the phrase “This notice is not a bill….” It is, in fact, a solicitation to move your domains to their company.

This is actually a bulk marketing campaign. The DROA sends these letters to everyone in hopes that casual readers accidentally transfer their domain to them. Apparently it works, because they have been doing it for many years now.

Luckily, if ArrowQuick manages your domain names, you have nothing to worry about (other than some extra confusion). We automatically renew your domains for you, and domain transfers are prohibited without express consent. But for others, the DROA makes it very easy to transfer to them. Unwary domain holders may be charged higher prices and may not receive the level of customer service they would expect. Plus, there is a potential risk of giving your credit card number to an unfamiliar company.

Read More

You can also subscribe to our newsletter or browse our archives.

Join the Discussion

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>