Aussie Firm’s Web Site Address Challenged

Federal regulators accused an Australian seller of Web addresses of using a deceptive address for its own Web site and misleading Internet surfers looking for a better-known service that sells names for far less. Hundreds of people seeking to register Internet addresses complained that they inadvertently clicked on the site operated by Internic Software Inc., a broker that resells Web addresses, instead of the Virginia-based concern that controls commonly used Net addresses, Internet Network Information Center, or InterNIC. Internic Software’s home page is https://www.internic.com, and InterNIC’s site is https://www.internic.net. The Federal Trade Commission said it wants Internic Software to stop using the address and refund up to hundreds of thousands of dollars to 2,000 customers.