ICANN Terminates RegisterFly.com

[seanmccann]

CANN today issued a formal notice of termination of RegisterFly.com's Registration Accreditation Agreement (RAA).

ICANN has issued a letter to RegisterFly [PDF, 902K] indicating that it will cease operating as an ICANN-Accredited Registrar on March 31, 2007. Under the terms of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA), ICANN must provide 15 days written notice to RegisterFly of its intention to terminate.

Effective immediately ICANN has terminated RegisterFly's right to use the ICANN Accredited Registrar logo on its website.

Between now and 31 March RegisterFly is required to unlock and provide all necessary Authinfo codes to allow domain name transfers to occur. Any and all registrants wishing to transfer away from RegisterFly during this period should be allowed to do so efficiently and expeditiously.

"Terminating accreditation is the strongest measure ICANN is able to take against RegisterFly under its powers," Dr. Paul Twomey, President and CEO of ICANN said today.

"ICANN has been frustrated and distressed by recent management confusion inside RegisterFly," Dr. Twomey, President said. "I completely understand the greater frustration and enormous difficulty that this has created for registrants."

When the Agreement is terminated, ICANN can approve a bulk transfer of all current RegisterFly domain names to another ICANN accredited Registrar.

"Of course, RegisterFly does not have to wait till then. They can request ICANN to approve a bulk transfer immediately. I call on RegisterFly to act in the interests of registrants and seek such a transfer from us straight away," Dr. Twomey said.

ICANN intends to hold a forum to discuss the reform of the Accreditation policy and process at its Lisbon meeting in a week's time*.

A set of questions and points to inform the discussion will be made public prior to the Lisbon meeting.

* The Lisbon meeting is one of three meetings held a year by ICANN to meet with global stakeholders. It will take place from 26-30 March 2007


found here: http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-16mar07.htm

 

[Dave_Z]

What's going to happen between now and then, and after March 31, is going
to be interesting.

Real shame. They had such a rosy future before, but I'm not shedding tears.

 

[JBebbington]

I don't have the money to transfer out the 30 domains I have there, but an interesting read, and a long time coming.

 

[bluemouse2]

that's the news of the day

 

[JBebbington]

I just came across a rather humourous section of the About Us page on the RF website.

It Reads:
...We are not a "one man" shop (like many domain registrars and resellers) or a "here today gone tomorrow" business, we have invested substantially in positioning Registerfly.com as a global industry leader...

Methinks it should read more like this:
...We are not a (Ruined by) "one man" shop (like no other large domain registrar), we are a "here today gone 31st March 2007" business. We have invested substantially in (holidays, botox, and many other luxuries for our management) positioning Registerfly.com as a globally ridiculed industry loser...

 

[Keynes]

Byebye registerfly

 

[webcom]

From the PDF file:

"ICANN may approve a bulk transfer of all current RegisterFly domain names to an ICANN-Accredited Registrar if ICANN deems doing so will promote the community interests."

Why may and not will?
And why if?

 

[Mike]

It was something that's been a long time coming.
My question is though, what about all the people that have bulk domains at RF, have their budgets laid out to renew their domains upon expiration and find themselves in a situation where they cannot afford to bulk transfer out from RF?! Shouldn't some level of financial protection be in place for these domainers, after all it's not the investors fault that RF couldn't comply with ICANN regulations. Potentially endangering their domain investments is below moral/ethical business standards.

 

[Kate]

icann finally doing something right...

 

[iNod]

In order for ICANN to transfer, somebody has to pay them.. Of course they won't do it for free.. God who would do such a thing for free out of the kindness of there own hearts.. Instead they want there clients to do all the work and pay them so they still make money..

Also is RegisterFly is reading this.. I will buy your site from you for $10...

- Steve

 

[stscac]

Also is RegisterFly is reading this.. I will buy your site from you for $10...

- Steve

$10.15 here

-Steve

 

[owntype]

$10.15 here

-Steve

$50 offer here, for the domain ONLY.

 

[Tippy]

I dont see why a registrar wouldnt step forward and offer to take over the names at no cost, kinda like what eNom did, keeping the current expiry date as is. Figure the good publicity this registrar would get and I dont see why it wouldnt be possible as far as doable is concerned. Plus if they gained new clients all the better for them...

So the ? is which registrar will step forward, eNom, GoDaddy, NameCheap... etc... are you listening.

 

[Mike]

I dont see why a registrar wouldnt step forward and offer to take over the names at no cost, kinda like what eNom did, keeping the current expiry date as is. Figure the good publicity this registrar would get and I dont see why it wouldnt be possible as far as doable is concerned. Plus if they gained new clients all the better for them...

So the ? is which registrar will step forward, eNom, GoDaddy, NameCheap... etc... are you listening.

I'm having my hopes up high for Moniker to save the day, NameCheap would be my second registrar of choice. GD has shown too many questionable practices lately. eNom certifiably sucks.... yeah, Moniker for the win.

 

[LeDomain]

I am sure a lot of folks have their money tied up at Regfly for renewals, including myself. Its a good chunk of my yearly budget.

Any thoughts on how we all can get our money out of Regfly..?

 

[iNod]

I am almost 100% sure there is somebody talking to ICANN about it.. Will they release anything until it actually happens. No.. Maybe it is GD or Moniker or who ever.. I don't care just take my names away from RD

- Steve

 

[stscac]

I am almost 100% sure there is somebody talking to ICANN about it.. Will they release anything until it actually happens. No.. Maybe it is GD or Moniker or who ever.. I don't care just take my names away from RD

- Steve

Moniker would be awesome!

-Steve

 

[Mike]

Well,...let's try this: http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=306153

Poll the one that should save the day....

 

[kektex]

Yep,I would love Moniker or Namecheap to step up to the challenge.
I wouldn´t be surprised if something like this happens.I just hope it´s not GD.

Anyone knows what happens if I decide not to move some of my domains away from RF?
Will they just get deleted? Can a registrar keep operating without ICANN acreditation?

 

[RickM]

GD would be ideal...why? Because of their low prices. They are a low price registrar, people just dont like the fact that they dont include the .25c ICANN fees in their domains.

Moniker is a bad idea for RegFly customers due to their high buy-in rates (remember, RegFly customers are there for one reason....low costs!)