"News" Update/s On Registerfly Saga

[Dave_Z]

Pardon on posting yet another Registerfly thread. But with so many around, I
decided to create a separate one dedicated to posting updates on the saga
involving Registerfly.

Here's the latest from ICANN:

http://blog.icann.org/?p=83

In a nutshell, Registerfly has challenged ICANN's action to nuke their registrar
accreditation via arbitration. That explains why they're still listed as such, for
another 30 days.

Expect more teeth-gnashing, especially from people who only care of getting
results. But that's to be expected, given the severity of this problem.

 

[accent]

One speaker at the recent Lisbon ICANN meeting said that 75,000 domains registered at Registerfly have been lost. ICANN needs to use all that money they have collected over the years, and have spent on all those comfy meetings in interesting places, and buy back every da^^n one of those names to return them to the owners.

 

[IAmAllanShore]

The FAQ's on the same blog entry are useful as well, especially the "I'm still getting RegFly bills, do I have to pay them?" and other stuff regarding the protecting of rights.
Thanks, Dave.
-Allan

 

[accent]

And they have closed the thread for further comments, citing "racism" and "chit-chat"

Well, I cannot claim to have seen the comments that were deleted. However the American government does control ICANN, as I understand it. It is completely understandable for those from other countries to object to that, considering this mess (I am American). And I see nothing that looks remotely like chit-chat, just a lot of people that have been hurt by this trying to make sense of it.

It is like this: Fix this mess, make those who were damaged whole, make d@mn sure it does not happen again.

Or it will happen again, and again, until you, ICANN, are spending all your waking hours with lawyers. Registerfly could be only the beginning. And I agree that the only thing worse than US government control of the internet would be international control.

Are there any good ideas out there for reform?

 

[Dave_Z]

Latest from ICANN:

http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-17apr07.htm

RegisterFly has been ordered by US Federal Court Judge, Manuel J. Real, to hand over to ICANN current and accurate data for all of its domain names now that ICANN's application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against RegisterFly was granted yesterday.

Under the TRO, RegisterFly is also obliged to provide this data every seven days, plus immediately allow ICANN staff access to the company's records and books in order to perform an audit.

"We ask RegisterFly and its management to co-operate fully with the order," said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN President and CEO.

The TRO, entered by the Judge Real in the US Federal Court located in the Central District of California on Monday April 16, 2007, encompasses all domains registered by RegisterFly customers, including those registered under any proxy registration service, such as the company's own "ProtectFly." The Court has also scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing for April 26, 2007, which, if ICANN prevails, will extend the force and effect of the TRO for a longer period of time.

 

[Dave_Z]

As posted first by angisson:

http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=321642

Latest update:

http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-27apr07.htm

Under a preliminary injunction issued yesterday by US Federal Court Judge, Manuel J. Real, ICANN now has the right to terminate RegisterFly’s accreditation as soon as possible. The provision to ICANN of current and accurate data for all of RegisterFly’s domain names has also been ordered by the Court as RegisterFly failed to meet the conditions of a temporary restraining order (TRO) which the Court issued on April 16, 2007.

 

[Dave_Z]

Update:

http://blog.icann.org/?p=127

ICANN’s motion for civil contempt against RegisterFly has been granted by the court.

That means that ICANN is able, with the assistance of a law enforcement official, to enter RegisterFly’s premises and seize all its customers’ registration data, as well as gain access to RegisterFly’s books and records in order to carry out a full audit.

The Court also ordered the personal appearance of Kevin Medina and RegisterFly’s general counsel to show cause why further contempt sanctions should not be imposed. That hearing will take place later this month.

The contempt was filed on Wednesday 2 May and granted the following Wednesday, 9 May, by Judge Manuel L. Real of the District Court for the Central District of California. RegisterFly had failed to comply with both a temporary restraining order (TRO) and a Preliminary Injunction previously issued against it in this case.

We will keep people informed of any subsequent developments.

 

[Dave_Z]

Update:

http://blog.icann.org/?p=128

A deal has been reached by which all of RegisterFly’s domains - including those registered under the ProtectFly proxy system - will be made accessible to their respective registrants shortly.

Full details will follow later today, contingent on the system being in place to deal with what is expected to be a very high volume of enquiries from RegisterFly customers.

The details will be posted on ICANN’s main website and this blog.

Read the comments on that post before asking questions, as some might have
been asked or answered already.

 

[mis_chiff]

Thanks for the update.

I would suggest for those that still have domains there
to do a check on the whois, registerfly has a nasty
habit of changing it when your not looking...

 

[scrsteven]

I pretty much consider my ~350 domains at regfly as lost. Thankfully I got the most valuable ones out in time. Maybe by riding out 'the storm' I'll eventually be able to renew some of the better ones, but none are worth enough to spend hours and hours to try to get them out at this point.

 

[3par]

I transferred my 20+ domains out of regfly without any issue. Pretty straight forward. As my domains are pretty high quality, I don't mind renew it until 2009.

 

[sandyfeet]

My 2 important domain names finally transferred out of regfly. They were still locked, but fortunately they still transferred.

Registerfly did answer my support tickets. I just think the whole registerfly site is messed up with inaccurate info. Whether it be whois, domain status or correct authcodes.

Anways, glad to hear good news from ICANN.

 

[IAmAllanShore]

I received what appears to be a blank email today from the registerfly-lawsuit listserv. Did anyone else?
-Allan

 

[fonzie_007]

I received an email two days ago asking for people to come forward and be named plaintiffs in the case. Allan, I did not receive any other emails from the law firm.

 

[mis_chiff]

I'm still waiting for someone to take the kids out of the sandbox...
Playtime is over! - let's get this dealt with already!

With the knowledge that is surrounding this case, I don't
know how they've been able to legally "ripoff" people...

If I was to steal a pair of shoes from a store, and get caught -
I'd be in trouble and charged with theft.....

what the hell is the difference???

 

[cache]

I finally used the "create a new account" and then change the ownership to
obtain the AuthCode. The domains were transferred with no problem. Still have
some there, but don' care if they are lost.

 

[Dave_Z]

Yet another update:

http://blog.icann.org/?p=131

So the Court has has ordered Kevin Medina and RegisterFly to publish on its website, within 48 hours, a notice telling people about the termination of it’s accreditation as the Court had set forth in the earlier Preliminary Injunction. The Court also ordered Kevin Medina and RegisterFly to comply with all other aspects of the Preliminary Injunction that it had earlier issued by no later than June 1, 2007 .

 

[fonzie_007]

I'd be interested in knowing if Mr. Medina is still in the USA. I figure by now he'd be on his way to a country without an extradition treaty.

 

[verbster]

I'd be interested in knowing if Mr. Medina is still in the USA. I figure by now he'd be on his way to a country without an extradition treaty.

With every dollar and domain name he could carry.

 

[duskdawn]

I have my fund balance in regfly because of the reseller program that I joined.
What should I do?