Registry recalling my domain! What to do?

[Allysin]

I just received the following Email from Porkbun:

Subject: Registry recall of name_of_country_here.buzz
Hello,

We regret to inform you that we were recently informed by the registry for the .buzz TLD that your domain, name_of_country_here.buzz, will be deleted after December 20, 2025. This is the result of a recent ICANN audit that found the domain to be non-compliant with ICANN policy, which requires registries to reserve and make unavailable country names. This is an unfortunately oversight by the registry operator, or more specifically the registry backend provider.

Both us at Porkbun and the registry acknowledge that this is a terrible customer experience. As a result, $100 in account credit has been issued to your Porkbun account, available for immediate use as an apology for the mistake. Additionally, recognizing your long term investment into the domain, the registry is extending a refund for the wholesale cost of the last five renewals, valued at $25 each or $125 total. This means you have $225 in account credit available for immediate use here at Porkbun.

Lastly, as a further way to make amends for the situation, the registry has temporarily reserved the following .buzz domain names (that are compliant with ICANN's policy regarding country name SLDs) and is willing to offer one of them free of charge as replacement if you should so choose:

countrarian.buzz
countrarians.buzz
different_region.buzz
different_region.buzz
city_in_that_countrian.buzz

Please let me know if you are interested in the registry's offer for a replacement domain or have any other questions or concerns.


Best,
Eddie
Registry Partner Manager
--
Porkbun | porkbun.com | @Porkbun


This is really sad for me because I've had this domain for 6 years now and I truly love this domain!

Is there anything I can do? I believe the domain has a much bigger value than the mere $225 offered. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

 

[alcy]

I just received the following Email from Porkbun:

Subject: Registry recall of name_of_country_here.buzz
Hello,

We regret to inform you that we were recently informed by the registry for the .buzz TLD that your domain, name_of_country_here.buzz, will be deleted after December 20, 2025. This is the result of a recent ICANN audit that found the domain to be non-compliant with ICANN policy, which requires registries to reserve and make unavailable country names. This is an unfortunately oversight by the registry operator, or more specifically the registry backend provider.

Both us at Porkbun and the registry acknowledge that this is a terrible customer experience. As a result, $100 in account credit has been issued to your Porkbun account, available for immediate use as an apology for the mistake. Additionally, recognizing your long term investment into the domain, the registry is extending a refund for the wholesale cost of the last five renewals, valued at $25 each or $125 total. This means you have $225 in account credit available for immediate use here at Porkbun.

Lastly, as a further way to make amends for the situation, the registry has temporarily reserved the following .buzz domain names (that are compliant with ICANN's policy regarding country name SLDs) and is willing to offer one of them free of charge as replacement if you should so choose:

countrarian.buzz
countrarians.buzz
different_region.buzz
different_region.buzz
city_in_that_countrian.buzz

Please let me know if you are interested in the registry's offer for a replacement domain or have any other questions or concerns.


Best,
Eddie
Registry Partner Manager
--
Porkbun | porkbun.com | @Porkbun


This is really sad for me because I've had this domain for 6 years now and I truly love this domain!

Is there anything I can do? I believe the domain has a much bigger value than the mere $225 offered. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

these domains will never sell and have zero domain value

but they may hold for u emotional value and or website links or such... that's up to u.

 

[bmugford]

Subject: Registry recall of name_of_country_here.buzz
Hello,

We regret to inform you that we were recently informed by the registry for the .buzz TLD that your domain, name_of_country_here.buzz, will be deleted after December 20, 2025. This is the result of a recent ICANN audit that found the domain to be non-compliant with ICANN policy, which requires registries to reserve and make unavailable country names. This is an unfortunately oversight by the registry operator, or more specifically the registry backend provider.

Is this a policy for new gTLDs?

I own some countries in legacy extensions and never had an issue.

It seems kind of absurd to recall the domain after six years of registration. That is definitely not enough compensation IMO.

Brad

 

[King]

Is this a policy for new gTLDs?

I own some countries in legacy extensions and never had an issue.

It seems kind of absurd to recall the domain after six years of registration. That is definitely not enough compensation IMO.

Brad

Probably.

.now countries can't be regd either.

Update: ICANN's Specification 5 requires gTLD registries to reserve country and territory names at the second level. This means names like "mexico.now" are initially unavailable for general registration. In most cases, governments must approve the release of their country names before they can be registered.

 

[BrandingGo]

Mike Mann and Rick Schwarts was right - new gtlds are scam

 

[jberryhill]

Is this a policy for new gTLDs?

Yes, all country names were and are required to be reserved in new gTLDS:

https://www.icann.org/resources/country-territory-names

Specification 5, Section 4 of the New gTLD Registry Agreement ("Registry Agreement") requires registry operators to reserve certain second-level country and territory names. The Registry Agreement also offers guidelines for registry operators to reach approval for the release of second-level country and territory names.

Based on the Registry Agreement, the February 2015 Singapore Communiqué [PDF, 113 KB] from the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), and following the 18 May 2017 ICANN Board Resolution, registry operators:

Must continue to reserve the second-level names identified in the Registry Agreement and outlined in the Reserved Country and Territory Names section below.

Are approved to release a country or territory name at the second-level only if:

The registry operator has reached an agreement with the applicable government for the release of a particular country or territory name, or

The GAC database shows a country or territory "waives its right to authorize the release of the country or territory name" according to the instructions outlined in the database.

If the registry allowed this name to be registered, then that was a mistake, and they are required to restore it to reserved status.

The registration agreement incorporates all relevant ICANN policies - and this is one of them.

No, it does not apply to legacy TLDs, which makes those geo names in .com even more valuable.

On edit: I missed the reply above which already pointed this out.

 

[Allysin]

I've written back to Porkbun and they replied with explaining the ICANN policy and they said this:

"So, I am willing to go back to .buzz and try to get further concessions, but I think we'd be well-served by specifics. What would you value your time in developing this domain name for? What should we make of the fact that it is just a parking page at this time? Do you have additional hard costs and the receipts related to this domain that would help in such an evaluation?

As for alternative domains, what exactly did you have in mind? I believe the domains suggested are currently unregistered and either directly or closely related to the current domain and within compliance with the ICANN Registry Agreement, additionally they are all the same general availability as country_name.buzz previously was and thus priced similarly. While the registry may find offsetting the first year cost of a premium domain as fair compensation in this case, I'm not sure the long term cost would be adjusted as such.

It is my goal to conclude this regrettable situation with the best possible outcome considering the circumstances. Let me know what specifically that looks like for you and we can work together on it."

The domains suggested by the registry are horrible! I have absolutely no interest in them. What could I possibly ask for regarding a replacement domain and compensation? I don't have any receipts I could send them. Is getting a premium .buzz and asking them to remove the premium status possible?

Any suggestions are much appreciated!

 

[Hashim]

Terrible behaviour on the part of Porkbun, glad I moved my domains away from them a while ago, and their terrible interface didn't help. Did you get any decent compensation from them in the end? Also since it's presumably now been dropped, do you mind me asking what the actual domain was and what the alternatives they offered were?

 

[Porkbun]

Terrible behaviour on the part of Porkbun, glad I moved my domains away from them a while ago, and their terrible interface didn't help. Did you get any decent compensation from them in the end? Also since it's presumably now been dropped, do you mind me asking what the actual domain was and what the alternatives they offered were?

This was a case of ICANN policy enforcement done at the registry level. The decision was entirely out of our hands.

 

[jberryhill]

OP was 11 months ago, @Porkbun

It could be worse, your customer could have been this guy: https://www.namepros.com/threads/is...-experience-raises-serious-questions.1362731/

 

[HotKey]

OP was 11 months ago, @Porkbun

It could be worse, your customer could have been this guy: https://www.namepros.com/threads/is...-experience-raises-serious-questions.1362731/

11 months isn't bad, status quo for my employer's new HR and Payroll "improvement" app for employee concerns. Customer concerns are addressed much more effectively, via ai chat based on another continent with unlimited ticket generation to next level departments based in secret caverns in the Mariana Trench using dial-up connections.