A US federal judge has ordered an internet hosting company to
stop accessing the customer database of Register.com, a major
domain-registration service, and using that information for sending
unsolicited commercial e-mail, direct mail and telemarketing.
The lawsuit was brought in August by Register.com against Verio
Inc, accusing Verio of deceiving Register.com's customers with
misleading marketing tactics and violating the terms of use for
Register.com's WHOIS database.
Register.com sought a court order to halt Verio's activities,
alleging that they constituted breach of contract, trespass to its
computer database and violations under US legislation: the Computer
Fraud and Abuse Act and the Lanham Act. The Lanham Act covers
liability for unfair competition and false designation of
origin.
In a court injunction issued on 8th December, US District Judge
Barbara S. Jones of the District Court for the Southern District of
New York found Register.com likely to succeed on the merits of each
of these claims which will be heard at a later date.
As a registrar, Register.com is required to maintain a WHOIS
database to give public access to information for the purposes of
resolving domain name disputes. Verio used a program to search the
WHOIS database for newly registered domain names and then add the
details of each registrant to its marketing list. Register.com was
alerted to Verio’s actions by complaints from customers who had not
opted-in to receive solicitations when registering with
Register.com.
Judge Jones ruled that by submitting a WHOIS inquiry, Verio
assented to the terms of use required by Register.com. It then
breached these terms of use.
