Dreamscape Networks International Pte Ltd has paid $56,340 in penalties after the ACCC issued it with three infringement notices for allegedly making false or misleading representations about two ‘free’ products automatically added at checkout, and about the benefits of its Domain Privacy product.
Dreamscape owns and operates the Crazydomains.com.au website, which offers a range of services including domain name registration, web hosting and web design.
Between October 2019 and July 2023, the website advertised that its ‘3-month website builder’ product and an ‘additional domain name registration’ were free. These products were automatically added to a customer’s shopping cart as ‘free’, ‘3 months free gift’ or ‘1 year free gift’ but had an auto-renewal feature that meant customers would be charged fees after the free period ended.
Dreamscape did not make it clear to consumers at the point of sale that the ‘free gifts’ were subject to auto-renewal and fees.
“Businesses must provide consumers with accurate information about the products or services they are purchasing,” ACCC Commissioner Liza Carver said.
“In this case, consumers may have believed they were receiving a free product in addition to the one they were purchasing because they were not given clear information about ongoing subscription costs for these so-called free products.”
“Subscription traps are an area of concerning conduct and the ACCC will not hesitate to take action against businesses that utilise these tactics in breach of the Australian Consumer Law,” Ms Carver said.
The website also offered a Domain Privacy product to customers purchasing a .au domain name that would ‘lock down from hijacking and hides your personal information’. In fact, consumers that purchased the Domain Privacy product were sold a different product that did not hide contact names or email addresses from the public domain. This conduct occurred between October 2019 and November 2023.
“As a result of the ACCC’s enforcement action, Dreamscape has updated disclosure around the auto-renewal and cost of its products, and the uses of its privacy products,” Ms Carver said.
Background
Dreamscape is an entity registered in Singapore.
Domain name registration is the act of licensing a domain name on the internet for a certain period. Consumers can acquire or renew a domain name registration from either a registrar (which has direct access to the registry data) or a reseller like Crazy Domains (which acts as an intermediary between registrants and registrars).
Note to editors
The payment of a penalty specified in an infringement notice is not an admission of a contravention of the Australian Consumer Law.
The ACCC can issue an infringement notice when it has reasonable grounds to believe a person or business has contravened certain consumer protection provisions in the Australian Consumer Law.
Image of a consumer’s cart, which shows the ‘free gift’ conduct
