After September 11th, the companies launched a spam campaign in the US with subject lines which read, "Be Patriotic! Register .USA Domains." The text of the e-mail read:
"The latest domain name extension has arrived .USA!!! It's the fresh, new, exciting web address that is taking the world by storm. Who wants to be .com when you can now be .USA. Register your .USA domain name today exclusively at: http://www.dotusa.com."
The hyperlink connected consumers to a web site where they were offered the advertised domain names for $59 each.
The FTC alleges that the companies are not accredited domain name registrars, that the ".usa" domain names are not usable on the internet, and that they probably never will be useable. In papers filed with the court, the agency said that many consumers had purchased multiple bogus domain names, and the defendants likely pocketed more than $1 million from their illegal scheme in less than a year.
The FTC alleges that the companies violated federal law by failing to disclose on their Web sites that the domain names they were selling were not useable on the internet, and by sending the deceptive spam. The FTC has asked the court to permanently bar the operation from deceptively selling the domain names and to order consumer redress.