Eurid has this morning decided to terminate the website "euidregistration.eu", after the owner was reported to be spamming domain owners with transfer requests disguised as renewal notices. The practice, known as "domain slamming", has been a prevalent problem for the .com and .co.uk top-level domains, as well as others. An English translation of the emails being sent, originally in German, is below:

"Dear Sir/Madam,

You have received this e-mail because you are the Domain Name owner of www.xxxxxxxxxx.com) In order to reduce the risk of potential Domain-Hijacking, ownership disputes and to prevent financial losses we feel it is our responsibility to inform you that the following Domain: www.xxxxxxxxxxx.eu is available.

Since April 6th 2006, anyone in the EU can register .eu domains. Click here to register www.xxxxxxxxxx.eu or visit the following Address http://www.euidregistration.eu."

These emails were unsolicited, and surreptitiously encouraged domain owners to authorise the transfer of their Domain Names by misleading them. Commentators have applauded Eurid's decision, arguing that it highlights the importance of making it clear that spamming and deceptive marketing practices are unacceptable.