Registrars.co.uk rebuked for email lock-in

 

Gallery

Posted on 4 Nov 2009 at 09:51

Registrars.co.uk has been censured by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for failing to let people opt-out of marketing emails.

The domain registration company, which the ASA claims is owned by UK3.com, breached the advertising code by failing to provide a simple means to opt-out within the email message.

The registrar further irritated the ASA by failing to respond to its enquiries. "The ASA was concerned by UK3's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP [the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion] Code clause 2.6 (Non-response)," the ASA's adjudication states.

"We reminded them of their obligations under the Code and told them to respond promptly in the future."

When contacted by PC Pro this morning, Registrars.co.uk's Chris Holland told us: "The complaint was made against a company, UK3.com Ltd, that I was formerly a director of and which ceased trading earlier this year. The complaint related to an email of which a total of just 17 copies were sent."

As the complaint related to an email sent by an ex-employee of a now defunct company I really didn't see the point in chasing the matter

That message is slightly bewildering, as the About Us page on Registrars.co.uk claims UK3.com is still alive and kicking. "UK3.com Limited is an award winning fully accredited domain name registrar and full voting member of Nominet, the UK domain name registry," it states.

"I will have the out of date Registrars.co.uk website updated shortly," Holland told us when challenged about the inaccurate information. Companies House records state there is a proposal to strike off UK3.com Ltd.

When asked why he had failed to respond to the ASA's enquiries, Holland said: "I only spend a few weeks a year in the UK and didn't actually see the ASA complaint until it had made its ruling, as I was in the US when it arrived.

"As the complaint related to an email sent by an ex-employee of a now defunct company I really didn't see the point in chasing the matter after the fact, in any case."