Some of you are already familiar with the Great hoopla.com Domain Name Robbery of 2002 and the subsequent aiding and abetting by certain evil clowns in North Carolina. Yesterday I received a phone call from the office of the Attorney General of the State of New York. It seems that enough New York residents have complained about VeriSign's business practices that the NYAG is opening a consumer protection investigation.
This is just a preliminary step, and action, if any, may be a long time coming. But the AG's office is very interested in hearing from New York residents who have had similar experiences with VeriSign. If New York residents have been impacted in large enough numbers, the AG's office may take this very seriously indeed. The assistant attorney general I spoke with could not indicate what they might do in this particular case, but she did advise me that the AG is empowered by New York law to sue wrongdoers on behalf of New York consumers, asking for damages and - cross your fingers - possibly injunctive relief.
If you are a New Yorker or know one who has lost a domain name due to VeriSign's neglect or indifference, please contact me at the office and I will put you in touch with the investigation team.
Posted by wasylik at May 2, 2003 11:35 AM | TrackBack