NO NAME GAME? - eNom / Register.com / Dotster / NetSol

[Nexus]

So, over the last several months, I've encountered various domains in LIMBO. Not necessarily "ON-HOLD" and expiring or anything, but in a state that seems a little more nebulous.

When people purchase names, and for one reason or another decide not to pay, registrar's are left in a lurch when this ultimately unsatisfying process is concluded. They have names that they can't use, and end up floating around without a registrant.

eNom lists one name I saw as:
-------------------
Registrant Name:Registrant Defaulted Name Available For Purchase
Registrant Organization:eNom, Inc. Registrar
Registrant Street1:16771 NE 80th Street
Registrant City:Redmond
Registrant State/Province:WA
Registrant Postal Code:98052
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Email:[email protected]
-------------------

Register.com lists one name as:
-------------------
register.com
Unpaid Names Department-R
575 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10018
US
Phone: 212-798-9200
Fax..: 212-594-9876
Email: [email protected]
-------------------

Dotster.com lists yet another name as:
-------------------
Dotster Default Contact
11807 NE 99th Street
Suite 1100
Vancouver, WA 98682
-------------------

In almost all cases, new registrants are told... "too bad, so sad" and are given the description of the "expiration" process and when they might expect to be given another shot at registering the name. The name is left to sit in limbo until such a far of time comes, and no one makes any money, or is able to otherwise utilize the wasted record.

Is this forever and eternally a "part of the process"? I've read people having luck buying names from Register.com's Unpaid names department before. I'm current inquiring about this name at eNom. I've exhausted my options with Dotster (they've said "no" in so many ways, I've lost count).

Does anyone else have any experience to share?

At the very least, these names are ideal drop candidates if nothing else. I'm sure every registerar has a policy for them, though I question if any of these policies involve RESELLING them. I think RegisterFly and GoDaddy actively pursue sales of "fraud" names.

~ Nexus

 

[Nexus]

The name I'm trying to get right now IS a .INFO. The great eNom rep I talked to said she'd asked all over, and everyone there is saying that the thought is that I'm out of luck until it RGPs in September (name's not THAT great...) She was *very* nice, however, and said she'd ask the vice president tomorrow morning, and get back to me.

I wonder if working in such extraordinary "bulk", dickering over one domain seems like such a small matter. Considering "a little bird" told me that eNom has hundreds and hundreds of names in this category, I would think registrars would be more hard-nosed about making sure they aren't paying for records to sit around un-used.

After a while, I feel almost reduced to "I'll be your best friend..." type remarks with this stuff. A lack of clear policy and moreover "procedure" can make simple things so much harder. I'm sure the "big" issue is that if they DID say I could "buy" it, how could they "sell" it to me inside of their existing system? If they dealt with every domain on an individual level like that, they'd make no money. :: Groan ::

~ Nexus

 

[actnow]

Nexus,

You are a better researcher than me. I rarely fall over names in default ownership.

However, I often see a lot of good names that Register has registered to their NY address. It looks like they were holding on to them for a "reason"? Money???

If I remember correctly. Register owns a bunch of domains that contains the word renewal.

 

[adoptabledomains]

Register.com had one of these in their "unpaid names department" for which I offered them $100 by email. I never got a reply, but a few months later picked it up for $10 with expirefish.

Greed, or stupidity?

 

[Nexus]

Originally posted by actnow
However, I often see a lot of good names that Register has registered to their NY address. It looks like they were holding on to them for a "reason"? Money???

One of the going theories. These names have passed the point where the registrar can receive a refund. As well, they may have already claimed the name as a loss for the year and its easier on their book keeping to "move on". With no clear mechanism in place, it might seem more than a bit counterproductive to "handle" a name like this. The thought also occured to me that I could attempt to "transfer" the domain within the actual registrar. The benefit being, a.) it is a mechanism that they receive payment for b.) they're essentially extending the time they are paid for. c.) easy to do. A Dotster, this experiment has ended in a feedback loop as the system mistakedly informs me that the name is now with Dotster, and gives me instructions for paying through my account, that ultimately don't pan out. I need to contact Dotster to make the automatic system stop bugging me about "finishing" the trasfer now. :: sigh :: I'm tempted to try it with eNom to see if an internal transfer might be the mechanism that might facilitate buying one of these names.

Originally posted by actnow
If I remember correctly. Register owns a bunch of domains that contains the word renewal.

NetSol and Register.com seem to be paying in spades for the "generic" domains they registered for managing their renewal process. Seems like a flurry of "fake" websites have been set-up to get people to "renew" their domains into a different registrar (or just steal your credit card info). Getting a few warnings from Register.com even recently about the www.domainrenewals.biz scam. Getting ugly.

These "no registrants" are different though. The records are distinctly different than the ones you might see if you search the whois db for the registrars own name. Those would more match a "normal" record they were simply the registrant for.

These other categories are just odd...

~ Nexus

 

[ps123]

You can add netsol's lame-delegation domains to this list. They are also not keen to let go of those domains that seem to be in that status for 2 years now.

 

[jsmirk]

This is most often domains that were purchased fraudulently or the cardholder disputed the charges. The registrar reclaims the domains since they have paid the registry for them and been nailed by the credit processor for the chargeback.