Hi

For your interest I have copied below the Open Letter to Professor Gerrand
and Melbourne IT about the Domain Renewal Scam, along with the current list
of signatories.

If you would like to add your signature, please reply to this email with
your agreement to be a co-signatory. The more support the letter gets, the
stronger the message to Melbourne IT and their errant Channel Partner, so
please get involved.

There was an article in The Age today, so it is already taking effect - the
more people that are forewarned, the better the chances of stamping out this
kind of practice.


PLEASE SIGN BELOW!

Larry

--------------OPEN LETTER TO PROF. GERRAND AND MELBOURNE IT------------


Professor Peter Gerrand
CEO
Melbourne IT
Level 2, 120 King Street,
Melbourne Victoria 3000
Australia

4 August 2000


Dear Sir

OPEN LETTER regarding the "Domain Renewal Scam".

We, the undersigned, are aware of the activities of Internet Name
Protection - a licensed INA Channel Partner -  and consider their activities
to be contrary to the best interests of responsible governance of the .au
domain name space. We believe domain owners are being given misleading and
misrepresentative information, and are being overcharged as a result. This
activity is damaging the business of your existing channel partners and is
harming the reputation of the domain registration industry and the Internet
in Australia.

We are dismayed at the lack of action by Melbourne IT in addressing this
matter and your implicit support of this activity. Your lack of action
endorses this business behaviour, and we consider it imperative that you
take a stance on the matter. Whilst their activities may not be illegal,
swift comment by industry players is the only way to set the ground rules on
what is acceptable and what is not. In a relatively new industry such as the
Internet, the legal system can take some time to protect consumers, and in
this vacuum, curbing irresponsible business practices are the responsibility
of industry leaders.

We believe that the industry should stand together as one in condemning this
practice to send a clear signal that such business ethics are not
acceptable, and call on you to take appropriate  visible action to prevent
Internet Name Protection  from continuing their misleading activities.



Larry Bloch
CEO
NetRegistry

Vasil Vasiliades
Director
Export Mission Information Systems P/L

Jim Birch
Manager
Multinode Computing

Lee Sanders
Senior Network Engineer
Commerce Australia

Paul Galea
CEO
Beyond Net Pty Ltd

David Blears
Owner/Operator
"Closer To Home Systems"

Ken Joyce
Manager
The South Coast Professional Computing Centre

Luke Kee
Client Connections Co-Ordinator
Connect.com.au Pty. Ltd

Ron Read
Managing Director
Oakridge Computers

Raoul Wegat
Managing Director
Domainshop

Cliff Reardon
General Manager
Click'nGo!

Alastair Waddell
CEO
legion.com.au p/l

Tony Brown
Network Administrator
Labyrinth Connections Pty Ltd

Peter Coburn
Managing Director
xcelNet Pty Ltd

Kenneth Brownsmith
kb§kb.au.com

Carol Avis
E-Commerce Director
Hot Chilli Media and Design

Dr Paul Brooks
Director
APAC Regional Engineering
Global One Communications

John Mackerras
Consultant
Desmac Computer Services

Chas Cleland
AUSCITY
Web and Ecommerce Development

David Goldstein, Salzburg, Austria (david.goldstein§sbg.nic.at)

Steve Cummins
Shareholder & Director of Australian e-Commerce P/L
ClickOn (Australia) P/L

Michael Lacey
Manager
Techcel Computer Services Pty Limited

Tania Wickman
Sales Manager
Domain Registrations Pty Ltd