MEAT and Livestock Australia has come under fire from Animals Australia for purchasing web domain names it says are linked to the animal welfare organisation.

Animals Australia says the MLA has purchased the web domain names AnimalsAustralia.com.au, AnimalsAustralia.net.au, AnimalsAustralia.info and AnimalsAustralia.net .

The animal lobby group stopped short of directly accusing the MLA of foul play, but said other companies who engaged in similar web actions had done so to misdirect consumers, create fake websites and boost their own web traffic.

It also claimed businesses could be held to ransom by competitors offering to sell the domain names back at inflated prices.

Animals Australia and MLA have been at loggerheads since the animal lobby group supplied and helped ABC's Four Corners air footage last year of Australian cattle being inhumanely treated in Indonesia.

After public reaction to the show, the Federal Government temporarily banned live export to the country, which farmers say crippled the industry.

Animals Australia spokeswoman Lisa Chalk said they had not spoken to the MLA, and had ‘no idea’ why the MLA purchased the domains.

"There are a number of possible reasons why people or companies buy the domain names of competitors or organisations – very few of those reasons aren’t questionable in their motives,’ she said.

“They have owned the domains for a number of years and haven’t done anything with them, so their motivation remains to be seen.”

“We’d love them back. So if MLA chose to donate them back to Animals Australia, we’d be very grateful. “

Animals Australia used the incident as a basis for an online competition, where they asked readers to come up with the most creative reason behind the MLA purchases.

[Via - PerthNow]

PickyDomains.com is world's first risk-free naming service.