This experience probably won’t stop me buying from Scan in the future, but I’ll certainly be more careful. Ideally I think Scansure should be opt-out rather than opt-in, or at the very least there should be an option for registered users to disable Scansure permanently on their account.

The letter reads as follows:

As a courtesy to domain name holders, we are sending yiou this notification of the domain name registration that is due to expire in the next few months. When you switch today to the Domain Registry of America, you an take advantage of our best savings. Your registration for: *****.com will expire on June 07, 2006. Act today!

Domain name: *****.com
Reply Requested By: April 7, 2006

You must renew your domain name to retain exclusive rights to it on the Web, and now is the time to transfer and renew your name from your current Registrar to the Domain Registry of America. Failure to renew your domain name by the expiration date may result in a loss of your online identity making it difficult for your customers and friends to locate you on the Web.

Privatization of Domain Registrations and Renewals now allows the consumer the choice of Registrars when initially registering and also when renewing a domain name. Domai nname holders are not obligated to renew their domain name with their current Registrar or with the Domain Registry of America. Review our prices and decide for yourself. You are under no obligation to pay the amounts stated below, unless you accept this offer. This notice is not a bill, it is rather an easy means of payments should you decide to switch your domain name registration to the Domain Registry of America.

The letter goes on to offer me the choice of renewing my domain for one, two or five years, for £18, £30 or £55 respectively, and also offers the .net and .org variants for £30 each for 2 years.

Looks like exactly the same standard letter that was sent to this blogger a little over a year ago. Steer clear!