As fresh domains like .nyc get disclosed, watch out for bogus web sites like this one

Be careful regarding sites for fresh TLDs.

Yesterday Information Week noted that Neustar will be running the .nyc domain name when it launches.

As definitive news regarding fresh top level domains starts hitting the web, people ought to be careful regarding misleading web sites promoting the domains.

Here’s one example: NYCDomain.org.

The domain, owned by a Utah man, is all regarding the .nyc domain name. And that’s fine.

What’s misleading is the description tag — the thing that shows up when you find the site in Google. Here’s what it reads:

Welcome to .nyc Domain Names. Official domain name registration provider. Register your .nyc domain in real time here.

Hmm. There aren’t any accredited registrars for .nyc yet.

If you look back at Google’s cache of the page from March 18, it reads:

Pre-Registration for the fresh dot.NYC Domains TLD is now open. Pre-register your dot .NYC top level domain Names now.

To be fair, lots of sites from even reputable domain registrars offered pre-registrations. It’s the latest description that seems most off base.

The only thing on the actual site I can find for actually requesting a .nyc domain is the contact page, which reads “If you would like to request a domain name ending with .NYC, just pop it into the form, and we will let you know when your name is available to be registered.”

A Fresh York City official told PaidContent that the site was misleading and not authorized to reserve domains.

I left a message at the phone number on the whois record for NYCdomain.org today seeking comment.