The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered EU
Registry Services not to send e-mails that imply it is accredited
to offer .eu domain names. The ASA found the advertisers had not
substantiated their claims to accreditation.
The .eu domain name was approved by the European Commission in
March last year, and will be operated by the European Registry of
Internet Domains (EURid). The domain is not yet live and no
registrars have been accredited as sellers.
Nevertheless, several companies offer what are known as
pre-registration services. For a fee, they will attempt to register
your choice of .eu domain names as soon as the service is in
operation.
These are not authorised services, and both EURid and the
Commission have notices on their web sites warning companies and
individuals against using them.
EURid warns:
"We have received many complaints about EU
Registry Services (registereu.com). This company has no
relationship with EURid and is not an accredited .eu
registrar."
A complaint against the company was also made to the ASA, over
an unsolicited advertising e-mail that stated: "The .eu domain is
approved by the EU Commission and we are proud to be operating the
Internet's most important regional domain name".
The complaint questioned whether EU Registry Services was
actually accredited to offer this service. The ASA asked for
evidence and the company failed to provide any. It has been
ordered not to send the e-mail again and reminded that, according
to the Committee of Advertising Practice Code:
"Before distributing or submitting a
marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold
documentary evidence to prove all claims, whether direct or
implied, that are capable of objective substantiation."
