Rob Sherman Advocacy   
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"Fighting injustice, one victory at a time."

Liberal News and Commentary
Friday, June 22, 2001

Sherman Asks US Attorney to Stop .biz Lottery

      Liberal News and Commentary has asked the United States Attorney in Chicago to stop an apparently illegal .biz domain name lottery that is being conducted by NeuLevel, the .biz Registry.

      The .biz extension is about to become available for use with domain names.   As reported in yesterday's Liberal News and Commentary, NeuLevel is attempting to hold businesses hostage to buying into NeuLevel's private lottery as a condition for just having their application for a .biz name considered.  That looks to me an awful lot like a lottery scheme which is illegal under federal law.

      Meanwhile, CNN interviewed me today regarding this story.  The interview will be part of their Lou Dobbs Moneyline Show one day next week, at 5:30 PM and 10:30 PM Central Time.  Thanks, CNN.  Maybe, together, we can put enough heat on this issue from the spotlight of publicity to generate a rapid response from both the US Attorney and from NeuLevel and Network Solutions.

      Here is a copy of the letter that I sent yesterday to the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, asking the US Attorney to intervene and stop this private lottery scheme.  I'll let you know what response that I get.  For the benefit of readers of Liberal News and Commentary, I've added hyperlinks throughout the copy of the letter reproduced below:

 

======================================================
LIBERAL NEWS AND COMMENTARY
======================================================

Box 7410, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-7410

Telephone: (847) 870-0700
Fax: (847) 870-1156

www.robsherman.com
rob@robsherman.com

June 21, 2001

Office of the United States Attorney
219 South Dearborn Street, Fifth Floor
Chicago, IL 60604

Greetings:

Dot Biz domain names are about to become available for use by businesses which operate web sites. I have applied with Network Solutions for the .biz domain name www.liberalnews.biz, under which name I wish to operate my news and opinion service, Liberal News and Commentary.

On June 19, 2001, I received the enclosed e-mail letter. The letter stated that I must buy chances in a private lottery operated by NeuLevel, the .biz Registry, in order for my .biz application to be considered. With potentially millions of .biz names being sought and at stake, NeuLevel stands to pocket potentially hundreds of millions of dollars by holding business people like me hostage to buying into their private lottery as a condition for being considered for award of a .biz name.

I thought that private lotteries are illegal. The US Code, at Title 18 B Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Part 1 B Crimes, Chapter 61 B Lotteries, Sections 1301-1307, seems to indicate that private lottery schemes are illegal.

If you agree with me that NeuLevel=s scheme is illegal, please get the scheme stopped. Domain names should be awarded first to businesses whose business name matches the requested domain name and second to anyone else based on one application per business per domain name. I shouldn=t have to pay ransom to some cyber-squatter for the use of my business name as my internet domain name.

Please consider an early response, because millions of dollars surely are at stake and this may all happen within just a matter of a few days.

Sincerely,

Robert I. Sherman
enclosure


Dear Customer,

The response for .biz domain name requests has been overwhelming, and we’re just days away from submitting these requests to NeuLevel, the .biz Registry. But before we submit your request(s), we need you to take one last step.

NeuLevel is requiring a processing fee for each .biz domain name application. So we need you to go online to our Account Manager and verify your credit card information, then select the domain name(s) for which you’d like to submit an application. We will then apply a minimal $5 per domain name application fee to your credit card. Be sure to have ready the account number (deleted) and password you were provided when you first submitted your request(s), then click here.

If you do not have your password, please call customer service anytime Monday through Friday at 1-866-418-3684 (in the US and Canada), or 1-703-326-6219 (if you're outside the US and Canada) and ask for your "New gTLD account password."

NeuLevel is treating the random registrant selection process like a lottery—the more applications you submit for a domain name the better your chances will likely be of registering that name. To help better your chances, we're providing discounts on application submissions of 10 or more*:

  • 10-24: $4.50 per domain name application
  • 25-49: $4.00 per domain name application
  • 50-99: $3.50 per domain name application
  • 100+: $3.00 per domain name application

The coming .biz Web extension is a tremendous opportunity, and we hope you are as excited about it as we are. Finalize your request today!


Sincerely,


Russell H. Bong
Product Manager, New gTLDs
Network Solutions, Inc.
A VeriSign Company
Each domain name that we register for you will only be $33 per year**—a savings of 40% off the regular early requestor price! We'll be contacting you via e-mail to notify you of the domain 
name(s) successfully registered for you after NeuLevel completes the registrant selection process some time in September.

P.S. Like the extensions that came before it, .biz is going to go fast. If you’re serious about your online identity, now’s the time to request the name you want!
* Discounts only available on multiple applications for the same .biz domain name on a per order basis.
** NeuLevel is requiring a minimum registration of 2 years. Successfully registered domain names will be automatically registered for 2 years.

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Any replies to this message, other than unsubscribe requests, will not receive a response. Copyright© 2001 Network Solutions, Inc., A VeriSign Company. All rights reserved.

 

         Rob Sherman          

P. O. Box 7410
Buffalo Grove, IL  60089-7410

A post office box is used because
the street address uses a curb mail box,
which is not secure.

Telephone:  (847) 870-0700

Fax:  (847) 870-1156

E-mail:  rob followed by the at symbol followed by robsherman dot com