As a followup, someone on SlashDot pointed out the official USPS regulations for mail "that reasonably could be considered a bill, invoice, or statement of account due, but is in fact a solicitation for an order":
http://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm/c031.htm The requirement is that the following phrase must appear in at least thirty point capital letters on the face of the notice: "THIS IS NOT A BILL. THIS IS A SOLICITATION. YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PAY THE AMOUNT STATED ABOVE UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THIS OFFER." They even have a helpful example picture of what it should look like: http://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm/c031.htm#Rar16021 Clearly, both the Verisign and Domain Registry of America letters fail this test by a wide margin, and are therefore illegal. If you get one and you are a US resident, I strongly suggest reporting it; you can even do so online: http://www.usps.com/websites/depart/inspect/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm The more people that complain, the faster the postal service will put a stop to this. -- Robert L Mathews, Tiger Technologies "The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was."
