EURid suspends 74 000 .eu domain's and has sued 400 registrars!

[thegenius1]

24 Jul 2006

EURid, the non profit organisation operating the Internet top level domain .eu, has suspended 74 000 .eu domain names and has sued 400 registrars for breach of contract. This move was prompted by abusive behavior from a syndicate of registrars who have systematically acquired domain names with the obvious intent of selling them. In the domain name business this is called warehousing and is not permitted.

“In this case we are convinced that the domain name holders of the 74 000 .eu names (Ovidio Ltd, Fausto Ltd and Gabino Ltd) are acting as a front for a number of registrars. The domain name holders and the registrars can be regarded as one and the same. Since registrars should only register domain names for existing customers and not “warehouse” the names in order to resell them at a higher price, this is clearly in breach of the registrar contract,” says Herman Sobrie, Legal Manager of EURid.



http://www.eurid.eu/en/general/news/eurid-suspends-74-000-eu-domain-names-due-to-breach-of-contract

 

[thebutler]

It would be nice to know what names are being returned to the market. I'm sure there would be some nice ones in the 74,000.

Wondering if they are looking at any other acounts?

 

[RsL]

Sorry for those effected, though this could be a positive move in the future domain industry...

 

[America First]

The GREATEST Two Letter dot net will be available soon

OT..sorry...
JP why must you tease :yell:

 

[jmcc]

Sorry for those effected, though this could be a positive move in the future domain industry...

Well it is serious money involved. Each of the 400 "registrars" had to pay 10K Euros upfront. That allowed them to register 1000 .eu domains at 10 Euros each. That's approx 740000 Euros in domain fees for the 74K domains put on hold. In US $, that's approximately $925000.

Regards...jmcc

It would be nice to know what names are being returned to the market. I'm sure there would be some nice ones in the 74,000.

Wondering if they are looking at any other acounts?

I think that EURid may well be examining other registrars for similar activity. There is certainly enough evidence out there.

Regards...jmcc

 

[wot]

Looks like the bad publicity has had an effect.

I will reserve judgement until we see the final outcome. I wonder what will happen to the names these guys have already sold?

 

[jkotinis]

Well it is serious money involved. Each of the 400 "registrars" had to pay 10K Euros upfront. That allowed them to register 1000 .eu domains at 10 Euros each. That's approx 740000 Euros in domain fees for the 74K domains put on hold. In US $, that's approximately $925000.

Regards...jmcc

I think that EURid may well be examining other registrars for similar activity. There is certainly enough evidence out there.

Regards...jmcc

You are right. Serious money in this case. So in total these guys paid 4 million Euros upfront and they had the right to register up to 400k domain names. They just didn't let them to do so.

As I understand their problem was that they didn't sold as registrars to other end users, but they kept them for warehousing .

But 74k domains is quite a lot. Around 4% of the total .eu regs to be held by 1 group.

 

[Dave_Z]

Mods, kindly merge this thread with this one:

http://www.namepros.com/legal-issue...ues-400-registrars-over-cyberwarehousing.html

On the side, it's going to be a loooooooooooooong wait for all parties involved
how this will pan out.

 

[jmcc]

You are right. Serious money in this case. So in total these guys paid 4 million Euros upfront and they had the right to register up to 400k domain names. They just didn't let them to do so.

As I understand their problem was that they didn't sold as registrars to other end users, but they kept them for warehousing .

But 74k domains is quite a lot. Around 4% of the total .eu regs to be held by 1 group.

And there are other syndicates that have warehoused thousands of domains. They've been slightly smarter than Ovidio but I think that they will be under the microscope after EURid's decision to sue Ovidio and may face action.

Regards...jmcc

 

[AdoptableDomains]

The article i read has a link to Bob Parsons blog on this:
http://www.bobparsons.com/EURidResponds.html

Bob does have a valid point, that 400 pseudo registrars were set up that don't even have a website. ICANN needs to change the definition of a registrar to make sure they not only pay the icann fee, but actually operate as a public registrar with a working website and domain controls. Too many new registrars are just fronts to get access to the registries for private purposes.

 

[DomainBELL]

The article i read has a link to Bob Parsons blog on this:
http://www.bobparsons.com/EURidResponds.html

Bob does have a valid point, that 400 pseudo registrars were set up that don't even have a website. ICANN needs to change the definition of a registrar to make sure they not only pay the icann fee, but actually operate as a public registrar with a working website and domain controls. Too many new registrars are just fronts to get access to the registries for private purposes.

- - - I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree with your point...
Stricter rules should most definitely be put into place...

~DomainBeLL (Patricia)

 

[Badger]

Good..

For me personally, the .eu debacle was a total waste of my money and time..

The likes of Pool and other such shady registrars should stop always looking to beat the system and become the bonafide industry leaders that they profess to be. If we, as small pawns in a fledgling industry that is domain name and web development, cant rely upon those at the forefront to uphold strong moral and ethical values, what chance do we ever have of being recognised as anything but a bunch a cybersquatters.