advice .mu registry expired our domain name early and permanently, how is this allowed?

[Scott Mueller]

We have a 3-letter domain name registered at Epik on autorenew. Apparently the .mu registry expired our domain name early because they expect to be paid a week before the expiration. Epik didn't know this and so our domain was set to pendingDelete status. And now we can't recover it at all. The .mu registry won't even let us re-register it later as they're just going to hold on to all expiring 3-letter domain names from now on .

I didn't realize how dependent we were on this domain name, is there anything I can do to recover the domain?

 

[Rob Monster]

Kate,

During January, we have enlisted ICANN, IANA and the ICANN Registrar Stakeholder Group, each of which were helpful on the forensic process of getting to a live human at NIC.MU.

Ultimately, the registry, which is operated by international racketeer Yann Kwok, did respond. Here is more on Kwok:

https://icannwiki.org/Yann_Kwok

You can see some of the correspondence below with .MU which, while not signed, is almost certainly Yann Kwok himself.

They are still enforcing a $2000 shakedown fee, even though the registrant verifiably renewed the domain 5 days before expiration, i.e. not during any grace period. It is an obvious case of racketeering.

The ICANN registrar stakeholder group collectively now all know about the .MU registry. All registrants are advised to stay very far away from the .MU registry. It is a criminal organization.

I am still on the lookout for the personal cell phone number of Mr. Kwok. If anyone has it, email me at [email protected]. I will not reveal the source.

In the meantime, I am very sure that the $2000 extortion fee proposed by the .MU registry will be more than offset by erosion of the .MU registry's asset value.

Finally, as much as we sometimes complain about ICANN and IANA, this is a great example of why it exists, and the role of a regulatory framework. Some ccTLDs are definitely not worth the risk!

Regards,
Rob


#####

Hello Yann and .MU team,


Thanks for the reply.

Here is the API log on Epik:

(image omitted as no way to copy paste)

As you can see, there was a renew command sent on January, 2018.


The recorded create date was January 10, 2010, which I am sure you will confirm:

(image omitted as no way to copy paste)

So the system attempted to renew 5+ days before expiration. Hexonet did not reject the API call, otherwise it would be denoted in red.


I have scoured your website for any indication of a 30 day advance renewal, and also reviewed the web archives. At no point do I see a requirement of a renewal prior to the expiration date, let alone materially sooner than that.


In other words, requiring of a $2000 restore fee is a classic act of racketeering by any standard legal definition. Here is one definition:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racket_(crime)


In the meantime, the impacted client has lost material business due to emails being misrouted. This is his primary email address.


Please restore the domain immediately. We’ll advise the client to renew for many years.


Regards,

Rob


On January 25, 2018 at 4:25:31 AM, NIC.MU Support ([email protected]) wrote:


...

Dear Rob and Joseph,


Further to your claim that you have auto renewed this domain 5 days prior to its expiration, can you kindly send us evidence of the payment made to the registrar responsible for this domain.


You threatened to take legal action against the registry for arbitrarily deleting your domain. The registry takes these allegations seriously and have sent you evidence from the audit trail proving that this was not the case.


We are therefore requesting that you substantiate your claim of having made a timely renewal to 1API, copied herewith.


Regards.



On Jan 19, 2018 20:43, "Joseph Peterson" <[email protected]> wrote:

MUNIC,


Please consider that there is a domain owner caught in the middle of this confusion. Although Epik attempted to renew this domain prior to expiry, and although the registrant attempted to renew the domain on the expiration date itself, the domain is now pending deletion; and this customer – who has been a loyal .MU user and evangelist – is now suffering the loss of his domain – including the loss of email messages based on that domain – unnecessarily.


Whether MUNIC is obligated to restore KEN.MU or not, surely restoring the domain would be a generous gesture to a loyal customer. Rather than spend man-hours on all sides documenting or disputing what went wrong in this case, we could simply allow this registrant to continue using his .MU domain. At Epik, we can examine our processes where .MU is concerned. After this, our very first .MU domain, perhaps we could provide more .MU domains instead of removing .MU from our inventory altogether.


That would be a win-win-win-win outcome. A win for the registrant, for 1API / Hexonet as the registrar, for Epik as the reseller known to the end user, and for MUNIC. In fact, MUNIC would benefit in 3 ways: (1) time savings; (2) revenue – both continued renewals from this customer and new registrations at Epik; and (3) favorable brand exposure (through this customer's ongoing usage of KEN.MU).


Any other outcome only does damage to all parties.


Best Regards,

Joseph Peterson


Director of Operations

Epik.com


On Fri, Jan 19, 2018 at 11:27 AM, Joseph Peterson <[email protected]> wrote:

Hello,


Let me respond to this statement: "... today is the first time in 2018 that the helpdesk has received a query about this domain". Attached is an automated confirmation email that I received on January 10 shortly after writing to MUNIC through the "Helpdesk" contact form provided on their website:


http://www.nic.mu/index.php/helpdesk.html


As you can see, the confirmation email is from [email protected] – JotForm being the application that provides the contact form itself. If no message was received on MUNIC's side, then clearly the contact form has not been configured to deliver messages to MUNIC. In that case, the confirmation email returned to the sender is quite misleading.


Best Regards,

Joseph Peterson


Director of Operations

Epik.com


On Fri, Jan 19, 2018 at 1:46 AM, NIC.MU Support <[email protected]> wrote:

Dear Rob and Joseph,


We refer to your mail regarding the deletion of ken.mu prior to expiration.


Firstly, regarding the issue that you have that nobody is reachable at the registry - today is the first time in 2018 that the helpdesk has received a query about this domain. The record we have prior to today dates back to January 2016, which was a confirmation of a successful domain transfer between registrars from Gandi to 1API.


Secondly, there are no arbitrary deletions in this registry as this registry is automated. Domains are automatically suspended when not renewed by the registrar. To ensure that registrant can renew their domains on time, on top of renewal notices that the registrar may send, the registry sends no less than TEN renewal notices to the registrant, admin and billing contacts PRIOR to expiration date, giving details of the registrar where they can renew their domain with.


However, in the case of KEN.MU, as shown in the attached contact details, the registrant has purposely obfuscated all details by using an anonymous service so that they cannot be contacted by the registry. Actually, the registry has no idea who Digital Town or Epik is, as we have had no dealings with them until today's query. Epik is certainly not an accredited registrar of this registry.


Thirdly, you claim that the domain was auto-renewed five days prior to expiration. Auto-renewed with whom? It was certainly not renewed with the registry. When a domain is renewed, our registrars do it either via EPP or through the web interface. This domain is under the portfolio of 1API and was not renewed. Some registrars also have automated their systems to delete domains that are not renewed. Our records (attached) show that the domain was deleted by the registrar 1API.


Hence you should direct your queries to 1API, which we are copying above.


Regards.


On Fri, Jan 19, 2018 at 3:21 AM, Rob Monster - DigitalTown <[email protected]> wrote:

Thanks Jonathan.


We will enlist the intervention of IANA in securing a contact from the .MU registry and a resolution of their arbitrary deletion of the Ken.MU prior to expiration.


I am also copying Yann Kwok who I believe is the responsible executive:


https://icannwiki.org/Yann_Kwok


Yann and IANA team,


We have an issue with the domain name Ken.Mu which was deleted prior to expiration. We have no documentation to indicate anywhere that the domains are eligible for deletion prior to expiration. The domain auto-renewed 5 days before expiration but in fact by that point NIC.MU had deleted the domain. The registry is looking for an outrageous $2000 restore fee. We are looking for an amicable resolution in order to avoid (1) litigation and/or (2) media escalation on behalf of the impacted registrant.


Regards,

Rob


--

Rob Monster

Chief Executive Officer

DigitalTown, Inc


Office: +1.425-295-4564

Cell: +1.425-765-0077

Whatsapp: 425-765-0077

Skype: robertmonster




On January 18, 2018 at 3:09:36 PM, Jonathan Denison ([email protected]) wrote:

Hi Rob,


Thank you for your email.


I’m afraid ICANN does not have contractual authority over ccTLD operators, like .mu; however, I’m forwarding your email to IANA as they work with ccTLD operators and it’s possible they may be able to assist you.


In the meantime, if you have not already, you may wish to try contacting the ccTLD Manager for .mu using the information listed here: https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/mu.html


Sincerely,


Jonathan Denison

ICANN Contractual Compliance


From: Rob Monster - DigitalTown <[email protected]>
Date: Thursday, January 18, 2018 at 12:59 PM
To: Jonathan Denison <[email protected]>
Subject: [Ext] .MU registry


Hi Jonathan,


Does ICANN govern the .MU registry? We are having an issue there and nobody is reachable there.


Regards,

Rob


--
Rob Monster

Chief Executive Officer

DigitalTown, Inc


Office: +1.425-295-4564

Cell: +1.425-765-0077

Whatsapp: 425-765-0077

Skype: robertmonster

 

[creataweb]

Not sure. @robepik

 

[Kuffy]

It sounds like a pretty stupid policy, and it's these tricks that have led me to walk away frm all the fancy non-standard extensions. .com is the only one that I consider registering now.

With regard to the problem in the OP. It sounds as if you may have a claim against Epik, maybe they could lean on the registry to try to recover the name.

 

[Kate]

Some TLDs indeed require early renewal, .es (Spain) is also one of them. There is a time window during which the renewal must take place.
American registrars usually suck for ccTLDs, they tend to treat them like .com and disregard procedures and peculiarities.
And I would suspect that Epik, like other registrars, is acting as a reseller here for those exotic extensions, so they are even less aware of the applicable procedures than they should.

 

[Rob Monster]

Folks - The problem here is that .MU does not post their expiration policy.

http://www.nic.mu/index.php/registration-agreement.html

It simply says they may or may not provide a grace period and can change it without notice. There are other registrars that provide no grace period, but .MU is unusually draconian in mandating an arbitrary day far in advance of expiration. This domain was not in grace period -- the renewal attempt was 5 days before expiration.

This is really the downside of working with TLDs that are not regulated.

This registry:

- Arbitrarily changes terms
- Is unresponsive to any and all outreach
- Holds expired domains hostage seeking $2000 in recovery fees for this particular domain.

It is a very unfortunate case. If this issues is not remedied this week, I think the domain industry should rightly conclude that .MU is a rogue registry engaging in nefarious practices.

In the meantime, I would advise registrants to steer clear of .MU. This is not a TLD to make plans around.

 

[Kate]

There are some terms here that govern renewal:
(emphasis is mine)

3. Term and Renewal Term. The initial period of registration of the domain name is a whole number of years between one year and ten years. Thereafter, the registration may be renewed for further years provided that you pay the appropriate renewal fee on or before the relevant renewal date. It is your responsibility to ensure that you renew the domain name registration before the renewal date and provide accurate and up to date contact details. Whilst MUNIC endeavours to send reminders of renewal dates, it does not guarantee to do so and will not be liable if you fail to renew any registration on time

Payment of fees is a condition to domain name registration. MUNIC shall be entitled to claim the Registrant (and/or Registrar or agent) for the registration for the domain name on receipt of an application to register for the domain name and for the renewal of the domain name registration on or before the renewal date. Payment must be made within the period stated in the invoice. If MUNIC does not receive payment within such period MUNIC is entitled, at its sole discretion, either to suspend or to delete the domain name registration from the database and if deleted, the domain name may be made available for registration to the public. If suspended, MUNIC reserves the right to charge you for redemption of the registration of the domain name.

6.2 reserve the right to levy additional surcharges, penalties and interests for late payments and may cancel the domain name without further notice if any debt relating to the domain name remains unpaid. Domain names are registered for fixed periods that are subject to renewal. If a customer does not pay for or renew a domain name registration, the domain name registration is subject to deletion at any time. In an effort to help our customers avoid unintentional deletion of their domain name registration(s), we may, but are not obligated to, provide our customers with a “grace period” after their domain name registration services expiration date(s) (a “grace period” begins on the day after the date of expiration). However, a grace period is not guaranteed and can change or be eliminated at any time without notice. Consequently, every Registrant who desires to renew his or her domain name registration services should do so in advance of the expiration date to avoid any unintended domain name deletion. If an expired domain name registration is not renewed during any grace period provided by us, rather than delete the domain name registration, we may renew and transfer the domain name registration to ourselves or to a third party. This renewal and transfer process is called a “Direct Transfer.” A customer’s failure to notify us that they do not want us to complete a Direct Transfer constitutes that customer’s consent to the Direct Transfer. A Registrant who is in arrears, failed to pay for and/or renew a domain name registration is not entitled to deny a Direct Transfer. If a domain name registration remains unpaid or is not renewed, we will suspend and/or delete the domain name registration. We may (but are not obligated to) provide registrants with the ability to “redeem” a suspended or deleted domain name registration. Such a redemption is not guaranteed and registrants should settle all any arrears and renew their domain name registration services in advance. If we decide to provide the redemption service to a customer, we charge a fee of thirty times the higher of the registration fee or the amount outstanding to redeem and renew a domain name registration during the redemption. If the domain name registration is not redeemed, it is then placed on “Pending Delete” status, after which it is deleted.

And I don't see Epik in the list of registrars. Hence my assumption they are acting as a reseller for this TLD (I don't know the domain name in question so I can't check).

The .mu registry won't even let us re-register it later as they're just going to hold on to all expiring 3-letter domain names from now on .

Did they say that to you ? If you had a direct contact with them they should be able to tell you what exactly happened and if one of the parties involved dropped the ball.

 

[Scott Mueller]

Epik is trying to reason with the .mu registry, but it seems to no avail .

 

[Scott Mueller]

@Kate you are correct. Epik didn't fully read the rules, or take into account the rules, for .mu.

 

[-EM-]

.gs wants like a month before expiration to be renewed

 

[Fancy.domains]

It is a similar thing with .be.

At least at GoDaddy.

 

[Scott Mueller]

@Kate regarding the .mu registry not letting me later re-register the domain as they're holding on to all 3-letter domains, this is what I was told by Epik. I haven't been in contact with the .mu registry. Epik has been responsive to me, expressing their own frustration with this matter. However, they haven't been able to get a response from .mu at all on this. Finding out who dropped the ball on this is not my current priority... I'd like to just find a way to keep my domain.

 

[Kate]

An update ?

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

It is a similar thing with .be.

At least at GoDaddy.

GD is NOT accredited on .be and on many other ccTLDs...
https://www.dnsbelgium.be/en/domain-name/find-registrar#/list/

They are just reseller of RRPproxy.net (Key Systems).

 

[ksusha64]

Looks like Epik is doing a great job trying to help, but I think mu extension is just a bad idea. You can pick LLL in net co, biz and other extensions for pennies. You will not have such issues as you facing with mu.

 

[-EM-]

I should have done this for a few cctlds as well