discuss .Co registry RESERVING pending delete domain names for themselves?

[Crysis]

For the past few days, I have been observing that .Co registry has been reserving many of the pending delete domain names for themselves.

For ex: The domain names listed below were supposed to drop yesterday and become available for hand registration. Now, if you check the whois, it's showing as RESERVED.

Some Examples

• HaveFun.co
• SpaceLabs.co
• Eits.co
• Wast.co
• Adrienne.co

I can understand if premium .co domain names like Idea.co, Talent.co are getting reserved by the registry. However, in these cases, even mediocre domain names are getting reserved for the past few days.

Some Examples (These are just a few examples. There are many more domain names which are getting reserved)

• Locatelli.co
• SoulFire.co
• Bergamo.co
• Wova.co
• Wiku.co
• Furmanite.co
• Nxstage.co
• OnlineIncome.co
• PureBliss.co
  
• TraderOnline.co

Have any of you observed the same thing?
Is this ethical?

 

[Premiums]

same for .CLUB

 

[Crysis]

Some more examples:

 

[Crysis]

 

[D Haynes]

Is it dependant on the registrar? I mean does the name have to be dropping to be reserved or are they stopping the registrar renewing for another year and then auctioning them off like GoDaddy does.

 

[Crysis]

Is it dependant on the registrar? I mean does the name have to be dropping to be reserved or are they stopping the registrar renewing for another year and then auctioning them off like GoDaddy does.

I don't think the registrar is reserving the domain names. Initially, I thought a particular registrar is reserving the domain names. But then yesterday, I compiled a list of some domains which were supposed to drop and become available for hand registration. There were multiple registrars.

For ex: HaveFun.co was registered at Namecheap
Adrienne.co was registered at Tucows
SpaceLabs.co was registered at GoDaddy

One more domain name that was supposed to drop yesterday - Nonsense.co was registered at Enom

 

[D Haynes]

I don't think the registrar is reserving the domain names. Initially, I thought a particular registrar is reserving the domain names. But then yesterday, I compiled a list of some domains which were supposed to drop and become available for hand registration. There were multiple registrars.

For ex: HaveFun.co was registered at Namecheap
Adrienne.co was registered at Tucows
SpaceLabs.co was registered at GoDaddy

One more domain name that was supposed to drop yesterday - Nonsense.co was registered at Enom

So the GoDaddy name will have already gone though their expired auction process without any interest before dropping and being reserved?

 

[Crysis]

So the GoDaddy name will have already gone though their expired auction process without any interest before dropping and being reserved?

Yes. These are pending delete domain names. I believe Godaddy name has already gone through the Expired auction and closeout process before dropping and becoming available for hand registration.

 

[D Haynes]

Thanks for the info @Crysis.

 

[Josytal]

May be they are studying why such "very good" names are dropping. LOL!

That's always the problem when you designate human functions to robots.

 

[John Napoletano]

From their official site...

There are a number of names that have not been made available to the public for a variety of reasons. .CO Internet has established business policies and procedures around these names in accordance with international best practices. There are three types of name lists that have been withheld from general availability within the .CO namespace:

• Premium Domain List: The Premium Domain List generally consists of names reserved by .CO Internet S.A.S. for future sale via public or private auction and/or privately negotiated transactions, including single and double character names, keywords and generic terms.
• Restricted Domain List: The Restricted Domain List generally consists of names stipulated by the Colombian Government as restricted and not available for registration.
• Reserved Domain List: The Reserved Domain List generally consists of names reserved by .CO Internet S.A.S. for promotional and/or other strategic purposes, and/or for its or its affiliates’ internal use.

The .CO registry has not published a publicly available list of all the Premium and Reserved domain names.

http://www.go.co/company/premium-names

 

[creataweb]

Bull if true

 

[John Napoletano]

Bull if true

How is what they are doing different from what the other registry and registrars are doing, have been doing? I vaguely recall the former GoDaddy CEO talking about ethics in regards to fees. But since then, 1000+ new tld launches. I think all parties are testing new pricing ideas now.

Look at xyz another popular one. $55,000 "Recommended first year fee" for Tier 1 domains. $13,000 for Tier 2. We are a long ways away from a few tld 10 years ago.

https://gen.xyz/premiums

 

[chandan]

nothing new

even .io is doing the same bone .io cam.io etc not dropped but reserved and later registered in park .io and auctioned

 

[Crysis]

nothing new

even .io is doing the same bone .io cam.io etc not dropped but reserved and later registered in park .io and auctioned

First, Bone.io, Cam.io etc. are not exactly mediocre domain names. They can be considered as premium domains. But, my concern was that the .co registry is reserving even mediocre domain names like Artinvestor.co, NxStage.co, etc for the past few weeks.

Secondly, Park.io is a domain back-ordering service. We can backorder pending delete domains and when more than one person backorders the same domain name. it goes into an auction. As far as I know, they don't support external auctions.

https://park.io/support

"Can I list my own domain for auction on Park.io?
Sorry, not at this time. We may add this feature in the future."

Finally, .io registry is not auctioning premium domain names at Park.io. They have tied up with Divido Ltd, a UK based organization specializing in providing proven platforms enabling TLD Registries to outsource the release of premium domain names in a fair and transparent manner.

https://www.divido.org/

 

[slader23]

How is what they are doing different from what the other registry and registrars are doing, have been doing? I vaguely recall the former GoDaddy CEO talking about ethics in regards to fees. But since then, 1000+ new tld launches. I think all parties are testing new pricing ideas now.

Look at xyz another popular one. $55,000 "Recommended first year fee" for Tier 1 domains. $13,000 for Tier 2. We are a long ways away from a few tld 10 years ago.

https://gen.xyz/premiums

The big difference is that .CO is a ccTLD not a GTLD or NGTD. Ethical standards need to be much, much higher.

As a CIRA member, I know for sure such things won't be allowed to happen in .CA. The only names that should be reserved are those that are emds of cities, municipalities and provinces. Apart from that, as a democratically conscious country code top level domain, everything else is left OPEN to the public (Canadian) for registration.

The fact that .co is even doing this is unacceptable. There is big difference between representing a country and representing a brand. .CO isn't .COMPANY, it's the CCTLD of Colombia. The moment management starts to forget that is the moment they need to be ushered out the door.

 

[chandan]

Secondly, Park.io is a domain back-ordering service. We can backorder pending delete domains and when more than one person backorders the same domain name. it goes into an auction. As far as I know, they don't support external auctions.

https://park.io/support

Finally, .io registry is not auctioning premium domain names at Park.io. They have tied up with Divido Ltd, a UK based organization specializing in providing proven platforms enabling TLD Registries to outsource the release of premium domain names in a fair and transparent manner.

after drop time whois were showing reserved . and they registered to uk entity and set auction in park .io

 

[codoamins]

NNNN.co CVCV.co two words of garbage are all reserved, why LLL.co is not reserved.

 

[jk23]

nothing new

Actually it is new. Seems like interesting timing...

 

[Kate]

Is this ethical?

At the very least, it's not healthy.
Registries are in a privileged position. In the real world (that the domain industry is able to escape), there are laws and regulations to avoid or limit abuse of a dominant position, and the conflicts of interest arising from such a position.