Predatory Registrars

I have been seeing more discussions like these and overhearing horror stories from domainers who are having a nighmarish time managing their names. You are going to see more of this in the future, not less.  Think of all the "rounder" domain registrars out there.  Guys who are doing black-hat things with white-hat public facing registrars.

Then think about the news stories that have come out in the wake of the Registerfly mess.  All these registrars who are predisposed to do both good and evil have been watching and learning that there are very few ramifications to making things slightly more difficult for their registrant population.  There are no toothy consequences to shaking you till you accidentally drop a name.

I firmly beleive that the largest high quality domain "registrants" [domainers] in 5 years time will be "retail" domain registrars who go out of their way to make renewals difficult.  These folks will be skimming the good expiring names off the top from poor name managers and domainers who give up.  Good domain names don't expire anymore.  Most registrars park names before they go into redemption-grace (RGP).  They monitor traffic/revenue and then take-over and renew those which are generic or have traffic; subverting the RGP/Deletion process. These registrars slowly build their domain portfolios week after week, month after month, year after year.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not against registrars 'holding names' (in fact, the point of this post is to encourage hard working 'domainers' to get their own ICANN accredited registrars as management tools for their names).  What I am against is a "retail registrar" luring people in with low cost renewals and the siren call of safety,  only to turn around and start closing in the walls by getting into the same business as their registrant masters.

Here's my philosophy on managing names:   "I trust you and I trust me;  but I'm not so sure about you".

Who are you going to call if your registrar goes on a three day 'crack binder'? ICANN is trying (and learning from the Registerfly situation) but they are out-gunned. The answer is: You can trust you.  There are scores of registrars for sale at the moment.  Do you think your domain portfolio is (or could be) worth 10 million dollars?  Then pick up the phone and buy a registrar.  Logic Boxes has them..  pool.com has them (may wish to sell/may not) ..  get Snapnames,  Tucows, Enom or Moniker (nod to others not mentioned) to run the cred for you.

Your heirs will be happy you had the foresight to be a good manager. If you have to stay at your existing rar do this:

--Keep your name on whois so whois caching can confirm you as the registrant.  Its sad but thats like fingerprinting your children in the event of the unthinkable.

--Renew your name for at least two years (so you could get into a legal dispute and the name won't expire)

-- Know your registrar..  get to know the individuals pulling the levers at your rar.

-- Move to a rar that has historically looked out for registrants rights ie.  Tucows (in house rar)

Comments

[Eric Hegwer]

OK this may be simple but...
Why not just never let your domain expire?
If you keep on top of things, this won't ever happen, right?

***FS*** Wish it was that easy .. some registrars try to upsell you crap you don't want in the final month of registration or raise prices on renewals. If you cut it too close they won't let you transfer without renewing or they make transfers prohibitive.. I have even had small problem rars switch hostnames on my names to their parking pages.. steal my traffic. The best advice is find a registrar you're comfortable with.. and renew well in advance. Lock the names down and develop a good relationship. Still you are trusting your business to that rar.

[Stephen]

Great post Frank.

I've been contemplating purchashing/starting an accredited registrar to compliment/help my domain efforts for a while and your comments have finally convinced me to go through with the process. Thanks!

I'm currently looking at the options and have contacted LogicBoxes as you suggested, but weren't able to find where you were talking about on pool.com. Could you tell me where to look for that? I'd also appreciate any other thoughts on where to look to purchase existing icann accredited registrars.

Great work on the blog.

[Paul]

One doesn't even need to buy an existing registrar - start a new one. Incorporation is dead simple and the application process at this point (subject to change after RFly perhaps) is not as difficult as it may look. It's simply a matter of some research and filling out of paperwork along with getting the appropriate financial and insurance requirements worked out.

There is no lack of consultants to do all the hard work for you either (LogicBoxes will happily do that I know as will others).

An advantage of starting fresh is you know there are no hidden skeletons with the Registrar you are picking up.

There are also no lack of technical backend providers (Tucows and DirectI both offer products).

[ASN]

Your point is a practical one; at least for now, but consider the damages that may result when class-action lawsuits appear seeking reimbursement for the ill-gotten gains from the resale of intellectual property rights inherent in the registration of a domain name.

The attack of this particular practice began two years ago after this post: http://www.circleid.com/posts/riding_on_expiring_domains_are_registrars_abusing_owners_rights/. Thereafter, a set of domain names were allowed to expire after written notice had been provided to each affected registrar and/or their selling agents.

The provision that is buried in registrar agreements and purports to allow them to hijack expiring domain names is a model for consumer fraud. Further establishing the clause’s lack of validity, we documented that every registrar ignored the written opt-out notices that were timely delivered.

Registrars 'holding names' and illegally replacing the correct contact information of the actual registrant with their own (a violation of the ICANN registrar agreement) is clearly an activity registrars have undertaken without authority or protection from liability.

So, on the surface, becoming a registry may sound like a good idea. And, for those with $70,000 to dedicate to the working capital requirement, the $2,500 non-refundable application fee and the $4,000 annual accreditation fee may also seem reasonable. (See http://www.icann.org/registrars/accreditation-financials.htm )

However, if you're thinking to recover those expenses from auctioning-off (or just keeping for your own) the domain names of your registrants, you may want to check with your legal team in regard to your exposure to future liability.