question Registry Reserving Name for Registrar Instead of Dropping

[tld4me]

As the title says: I've encountered a situation where a domain entered "pending delete" status x2. The final stage before being dropped. The registry dropped the domain, reserved the domain preventing the domain from being registered, then handed the domain off to a selected registrar.

Is this allowed by ICANN and are there any rules in place that prohibit this practice? Or is this common, allowed, and I'm just naive?

 

[branding]

Yes.

 

[tld4me]

Yes.

I realize now my jumble of questions isn't even clear to me. Just to confirm: This is normal, allowed, and I'm naive to think otherwise?

 

[branding]

I realize now my jumble of questions isn't even clear to me. Just to confirm: This is normal, allowed, and I'm naive to think otherwise?

Its up for debate. It happens all the time. I don't like it but yeah, it is allowed.

 

[pb]

That depends on the registry's policy and also on the status of the domain prior to deletion.
For example in .pl registry it's not practised to reserve domains and definitely not handing them over to a selected registrar, unless the domain was deleted as a result of a lost domain dispute.
That said, I cannot tell anything about your specific case and I don't even know if you interpret it correctly.

 

[tld4me]

That depends on the registry's policy and also on the status of the domain prior to deletion.
For example in .pl registry it's not practised to reserve domains and definitely not handing them over to a selected registrar, unless the domain was deleted as a result of a lost domain dispute.
That said, I cannot tell anything about your specific case and I don't even know if you interpret it correctly.

Thank you for the response.

I've got another post started with NameCheap and trying to understand the validity of their expired auctions for domains where NameCheap isn't the registrar for the domains being auctioned. Still trying to figure that out, or get a reply from someone that knows.

In the process of looking into that, there was an .xyz domain being auctioned at Namecheap (edit: that wasn't registered with Namecheap) that I was interested in. I didn't bid on it. Someone else did bid on it, and then won. So I was interested to follow this. The domain whois info and RDAP querey responses didn't change and remained in dual pending delete status. I also set up multiple backorders with 3 different companies for the domain I was interested in.

I've also written some scripts, along with modifying some others, to grab RDAP queries and also make API calls.
I grabbed RDAP query responses up to the point when the domain dropped. I also had API calls going to attempt to register the domain.

I was expecting my API calls to be too slow, but I didn't expect the 3 backorders to fail. All failed. I checked the RDAP query responses and at the moment of drop, the domain status changed to: "This domain has been reserved by the registry, and is not available for registration." I've seen this happen before when the registry claws back domains to turn them around as new premium priced domains. However, after roughly 5 minutes of this status, the domain was then registered with Namecheap.

I'm assuming the person that bid and won the domain auction, was awarded the domain.

I've never seen this before though, where the domain is counted all the way down to drop and then not actually dropped, but passed off by the registry.

Again - I'm new to a lot of this. Maybe it's always been this way. That's what I'm trying to find out.

In regards to the other post I have about Namecheap and the auctions - I still don't know that yet. I'm going to try and follow through with some other tlds and see what they do.

From this example, to me, it looks like the registrar Namecheap may have a deal in place with the XYZ registry to final auction domains that are in the final stages of "pending delete" status. (Maybe?)

 

[Hypersot]

Basically, the procedure goes like this:

-a very valuable domain is about to drop (valuable to me where I consider traffic as of value)

-at the moment when it is expected to drop, it suddenly gets either a state of 'reserved by the registry' or it is awarded to some registrar (usually namecheap) but without ever resolving.
*Note that it doesn't matter where you backorder the domain prior to the drop as every backorder service will consider it as 'failed' 100% of the time when it drops.

-At some point in time (could be days or even 1-2 months after the drop) the domain will be awarded to any of the top-tier domainer groups that park domains with the thousands and will stay with them until they drop it.

I have been monitoring this situation for a very, very long time and I still haven't figured out what the hell happens with those specific domains. I have even paid broker companies to try and acquire the domains while being idle after the drop but the brokers have never gotten any response.

If that is the situation you describe OP then good luck resolving the mystery, hope you are luckier than me

 

[tld4me]

Basically, the procedure goes like this:

-a very valuable domain is about to drop (valuable to me where I consider traffic as of value)

-at the moment when it is expected to drop, it suddenly gets either a state of 'reserved by the registry' or it is awarded to some registrar (usually namecheap) but without ever resolving.
*Note that it doesn't matter where you backorder the domain prior to the drop as every backorder service will consider it as 'failed' 100% of the time when it drops.

-At some point in time (could be days or even 1-2 months after the drop) the domain will be awarded to any of the top-tier domainer groups that park domains with the thousands and will stay with them until they drop it.

I have been monitoring this situation for a very, very long time and I still haven't figured out what the hell happens with those specific domains. I have even paid broker companies to try and acquire the domains while being idle after the drop but the brokers have never gotten any response.

If that is the situation you describe OP then good luck resolving the mystery, hope you are luckier than me

Thank you for this reply! Interesting.

With the example I followed, the change from "pending delete" to "reserved" was instant at drop time. The change from "reserved" to registered with Namecheap was roughly 5 minutes. The "reserved" status is what throws me off.

It could be argued that Namecheap has great resources for grabbing the drop, but in reality the backorder companies had combined over 100+ accredited registrars and Namecheap has 2. (that I'm aware of)
5 minutes around drop time should factor in well with the attempts for the backorders, I'm sure their attempts are padded with a time slot that is wider than 5 minutes.

If it went from pending delete to instantly registered with Namecheap, I wouldn't think much about this other than: "wow, Namecheap really has their systems tuned!"

Maybe I have the wrong idea about dual "pending delete" status. I thought there could be no changes at this point as the domain is being prepared to drop.

If the registry has some working deal with a particular registrar, why would it even have to go through these imaginary steps of being dropped? I assumed being prepared for drop was preparing for open hunting season. Isn't that why companies like dropcatch and snapnames exist? What's the point if there are deals in the background that prevent names from dropping?

Frustrating to read you've seen similar things happen and play out over months!

 

[tld4me]

I've tried to read the agreement with ICANN and the .xyz registry, hoping for some clarification on dropping/reserved names/pending delete. I'm not smart enough to understand the documents.

 

[pb]

From this example, to me, it looks like the registrar Namecheap may have a deal in place with the XYZ registry to final auction domains that are in the final stages of "pending delete" status. (Maybe?)

Yes, it does look like that. I've seen this before, I think with NetSol and .tv or .io (that part I don't remember). Private registries are the worst.

 

[tld4me]

Coming back to this thread, I still don't know exactly what is going on.

Other domains I've looked at that match the dual pending delete status, with tld's other than .xyz, seem to also be under the .xyz registry. Which would make me think there is some agreement there.

There haven't been many expired domains on Namecheap that fit this pattern recently, that aren't registered with namecheap, and that wind up getting bids there. Seems most just don't get bid on and then drop.

I followed a few:
- One that had bids with a winner, turned into a canceled auction, then dropped like normal.
- One that had bids with a winner, wound up dropping (it seems) and was re-registered with a Chinese registrar. So I don't think the winner at Namecheap got it.

I wouldn't have been happy if I was the person that won and then didn't get the domain. Odd.

 

[branding]

Somewhat related... Identity digital is reserving names claiming to be brand protection. And I'm talking generic terms.

All I ever wanted is to own my dogs name in .info... That's never going to happen I guess...

 

[tld4me]

Somewhat related... Identity digital is reserving names claiming to be brand protection. And I'm talking generic terms.

All I ever wanted is to own my dogs name in .info... That's never going to happen I guess...

Interesting. I saw "April" and "Lilly" were .info domains that weren't registered, but couldn't be. I wonder if this is the same thing you are describing?

 

[branding]

Interesting. I saw "April" and "Lilly" were .info domains that weren't registered, but couldn't be. I wonder if this is the same thing you are describing?

Yes, Tommy was the one I was after.

I do get it's a brand as well but generic as F so why would they reserve this. It's insanity.

 

[pb]

Yes, Tommy was the one I was after.

I do get it's a brand as well but generic as F so why would they reserve this. It's insanity.

Um... to try and sell it to the brand owner at a premium (you know, protection money)? Just a guess.

 

[branding]

Um... to try and sell it to the brand owner at a premium (you know, protection money)? Just a guess.

Maybe... The point is, they're reserving very generic names (literally) for 'brand protection' at the registry level. This is a no go when it comes to a registry supposed to serve 'public interest'.

I give ngtlds a pass as they play by different rules but find it disappointing even .info (Id digital) gives the finger to the general public.

Who's next? Verisign?

Again, insanity.

 

[pb]

I don't disagree. Just pondering what new way of milking customers they invented.