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What's going on with Epik and Rob Monster?

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I'm catching the tail end of this, seems to be some kind of controversy...

https://domaingang.com/domain-news/rob-monster-off-twitter-after-christchurch-massacre-controversy/

Must be something odd to evoke this type of a response from one of our members.

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A couple recent deaths in the family got me thinking again about my own death and what might happen with the domain names I have (most all at Epik). A question/thought: Is it possible that Epik could have a section on what inheritors could do/should do if a domain holder were to die (at least when it concerns domains at Epik). A section that inheritors can be told in advance to search out?

Or is there a better alternative to that?

Three things:

1. We offer Forever renewals.

2. We generate domain certificates that you can put into your estate files. See attached example.

3. You can provide us instructions for authorized contacts in the event of decease. We have this for may clients, including before major hospitalizations.

It is more common than you might think.
 

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I just saw this online it looks like hosting and media outlets are removing many accounts including crypto related content...
I totally agree with removal of any unlawful or hateful content.
As far as I know there have not been any violence in the name of crypto
https://news.bitcoin.com/youtube-censorship-drives-uptake-of-crypto-powered-video-platforms/
Whats going on with censorship in the US?

Censorship of crypto content seems extreme. AFAIK it is not unlawful. So, yes, seems heavy-handed.
 
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Three things:

1. We offer Forever renewals.

2. We generate domain certificates that you can put into your estate files. See attached example.

3. You can provide us instructions for authorized contacts in the event of decease. We have this for may clients, including before major hospitalizations.

It is more common than you might think.


How long is forever?

what happens to "forever" domains
when epik goes bankrupt
or you sell epik ?


this company was offering lifetime (forever) free hosting packages
for like $245 USD one-time payments
gen.com
https://web.archive.org/web/19991104042044/http://members.gen.com/account_mgmt.htm
 
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How long is forever?

what happens to "forever" domains
when epik goes bankrupt
or you sell epik ?

That always seemed an odd option, fishy almost. I've received spam renewals with a forever registration option.

The Epik price basically covers 27 years, if the renewal stays at $9 per year the whole time.

Since many domains registrations are already reaching that age, these are valid questions.

Hope @Rob Monster can clarify as to what happens to the domains with the "forever renewal". Are the domains renewed past the 20 and 30 years? Are the domains passed on to next of kin in the event of death?

Rob, you linked a certificate for a "forever renewal" domain. But can it be used in the court of law in case you lose the domain? Is the "forever renewal" recognized by ICANN? So in the event Epik ceases to exist or loses its registrar accreditation, will it be honored?
 
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That always seemed an odd option, fishy almost. I've received spam renewals with a forever registration option.

The Epik price basically covers 27 years, if the renewal stays at $9 per year the whole time.

Since many domains registrations are already reaching that age, these are valid questions.

Hope @Rob Monster can clarify as to what happens to the domains with the "forever renewal". Are the domains renewed past the 20 and 30 years? Are the domains passed on to next of kin in the event of death?

Rob, you linked a certificate for a "forever renewal" domain. But can it be used in the court of law in case you lose the domain? Is the "forever renewal" recognized by ICANN? So in the event Epik ceases to exist or loses its registrar accreditation, will it be honored?


Forever domain registrations at Epik are agency agreements, similar to how a WHOIS privacy proxy works. It is a completely legal way for someone to accomplish an objective. In the case of WHOIS privacy, proxy the registrant is delegating the privacy proxy to represent them for inbound inquiries, which in our case is largely automated.

The mechanics of a Forever registration is that we renew for the maximum period allowed by the registry. We then renew for another year on the anniversary date so the domain is renewed for the maximum period. We get a customer for life, and the customer gets peace of mind and saves time. Win-win.

ICANN does not offer a Forever registration. I actively petitioned for that, including a Forever ICANN fee. See here. As a result, pricing becomes an underwriting task for Epik where we decide how much to include for reserve beyond 10 years. Some registries, notably Uniregistry, are perhaps too much of a crapshoot to underwrite.
 
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Forever domain registrations at Epik are agency agreements, similar to how a WHOIS privacy proxy works. It is a completely legal way for someone to accomplish an objective. In the case of WHOIS privacy, proxy the registrant is delegating the privacy proxy to represent them for inbound inquiries, which in our case is largely automated.

The mechanics of a Forever registration is that we renew for the maximum period allowed by the registry. We then renew for another year on the anniversary date so the domain is renewed for the maximum period. We get a customer for life, and the customer gets peace of mind and saves time. Win-win.

ICANN does not offer a Forever registration. I actively petitioned for that, including a Forever ICANN fee. See here. As a result, pricing becomes an underwriting task for Epik where we decide how much to include for reserve beyond 10 years. Some registries, notably Uniregistry, are perhaps too much of a crapshoot to underwrite.
Just wondering would you say Uniregistry is a crapshoot?
 
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Just wondering would you say Uniregistry is a crapshoot?

- They implemented up to 30X price increases in the 2017. See here.

- I am told from reliable sources that their registry business is still burning cash.

- Frank's ex-wife likes cash and is apparently hunting for it. See here.

If Uni needs to play lifeboat, I think they end up dumping the registry business.

Frank himself of course will be fine, but the new gTLD economy is tough!
 
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- They implemented up to 30X price increases in the 2017. See here.

- I am told from reliable sources that their registry business is still burning cash.

- Frank's ex-wife likes cash and is apparently hunting for it. See here.

If Uni needs to play lifeboat, I think they end up dumping the registry business.

Frank himself of course will be fine, but the new gTLD economy is tough!
All fair points, backed up with data, facts are facts.

The registry business is vital to their uni market, I mean they do a lot of commission based sales thru there. They have FMAโ€™s portfolio exclusive, as well as their own which I assume subsidies their platform, which does have a lot of large domainer portfolios.

The ex wife bit is pretty scary, given she was there since the start in 2001. Sure they have a lot of brokers on the payroll, losing J Gabriel does not help, but to dump their registry would be a huge ego blow. He has a strong enough portfolio with enough gems to sustain losses if he is willing to stay the course. They are still spending good money acquiring .comโ€™s thru the aftermarket, outbidding most domainers with strong proxy bids. I donโ€™t think the subscription model went over to well with smaller accounts. What I did notice they donโ€™t auction off their own expired inventory, which is strange given they have dropped some monster names thru some of their accounts.

Their technology on the platform is the most seamless I have seen to date on any other platform. Where as Godaddy just introduced a new platform which is impossible to use.

They do offer payment plans, but it has to go thru their broker, and there is a $40 a month holding fee, which can hurt smaller payment plans. I have to give Epik props for being the front runner in payment plans, which are very easy to setup, and very affordable for both parties to implement on their platform.
 
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All fair points, backed up with data, facts are facts.

The registry business is vital to their uni market, I mean they do a lot of commission based sales thru there. They have FMAโ€™s portfolio exclusive, as well as their own which I assume subsidies their platform, which does have a lot of large domainer portfolios.

The ex wife bit is pretty scary, given she was there since the start in 2001. Sure they have a lot of brokers on the payroll, losing J Gabriel does not help, but to dump their registry would be a huge ego blow. He has a strong enough portfolio with enough gems to sustain losses if he is willing to stay the course. They are still spending good money acquiring .comโ€™s thru the aftermarket, outbidding most domainers with strong proxy bids. I donโ€™t think the subscription model went over to well with smaller accounts. What I did notice they donโ€™t auction off their own expired inventory, which is strange given they have dropped some monster names thru some of their accounts.

Their technology on the platform is the most seamless I have seen to date on any other platform. Where as Godaddy just introduced a new platform which is impossible to use.

They do offer payment plans, but it has to go thru their broker, and there is a $40 a month holding fee, which can hurt smaller payment plans. I have to give Epik props for being the front runner in payment plans, which are very easy to setup, and very affordable for both parties to implement on their platform.

Great analysis there. I won't speculate further, but I was simply clarifying the question about why we don't sell Forever Uni names. I have pitched them hard on letting us do that for them but they did not go for that option. I do think it would help their registries.

As for payment plans, indeed Epik is very strong there, and also SSL parking landers. Look for a breakthrough upgrade to our Marketplace platform later this month followed by an Escrow dashboard.
 
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If past performance of other "defenders of free speech" can be a guide, I expect a profuse apology, a promise to be better and yet some whining how he is a victim in all this. People will forgive him, most will forget and everything will go back to normal.... well, until next time.
The First Amendment allows for "excepted speech", not "accepted speech"...or am I missing something? :unsure:
 
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Forever domain registrations at Epik .. The mechanics of a Forever registration is that we renew for the maximum period allowed by the registry. We then renew for another year on the anniversary date so the domain is renewed for the maximum period. We get a customer for life, and the customer gets peace of mind and saves time. Win-win.

The Epik price basically covers 27 years, if the renewal stays at $9 per year the whole time....
Hope @Rob Monster can clarify as to what happens to the domains with the "forever renewal". Are the domains renewed past the 20 and 30 years? Are the domains passed on to next of kin in the event of death?.... So in the event Epik ceases to exist or loses its registrar accreditation, will it be honored?

How come we talk about "Frank Sch. ex-wife" ?
while those questions are still unanswered?

"Are the domains renewed past the 20 and 30 years? "

"So in the event, Epik ceases to exist or loses its registrar accreditation, will it be honored?"
and who will honor it.

"What happens when a customer dies to the domain?" ( exactly )

To my knowledge, a registrar is earning about $1 USD or less when selling
a .com domain at $8.49 USD
( my guess is: less than a dollar )

So for $27 USD profit
you have to renew a domain "forever"

So I guess the reason is not actually "peace of mind"
but to get receive a chunk of cash upfront.

Having read that you @Rob Monster
where formerly offering the registar epik for at a price
of only $50.000 USD to another company,
all this doesn't give me "peace of mind " at all.

Could you please clarify?
 
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How come we talk about "Frank Sch. ex-wife" ?
while those questions are still unanswered?

"Are the domains renewed past the 20 and 30 years? "

"So in the event, Epik ceases to exist or loses its registrar accreditation, will it be honored?"
and who will honor it.

"What happens when a customer dies to the domain?" ( exactly )

To my knowledge, a registrar is earning about $1 USD or less when selling
a .com domain at $8.49 USD
( my guess is: less than a dollar )

So for $27 USD profit
you have to renew a domain "forever"

So I guess the reason is not actually "peace of mind"
but to get receive a chunk of cash upfront.

Having read that you @Rob Monster
where formerly offering the registar epik for at a price
of only $50.000 USD to another company,
all this doesn't give me "peace of mind " at all.

Could you please clarify?

Frank, as usual, you have bad information.

Earlier in 2019 we raised capital at a common stock valuation of $10 million, In Q2, 2019, our revenues were $2.53 million up 71% versus Q1 2019. So far in 2019, we have also completed 2 important strategic acquisitions, BitMitigate.com and Sibyl Systems Ltd. The integrations for both are going very well.

The economics of a Forever.com are obvious. For $399, there is ample funding based on an 8% cost of capital at a .COM price of $19 or lower to fund the domain into perpetuity with a 10 years paid at the registry at all times. I will spare you the detail but you can be sure that we ran the numbers.

Yes, Frank, it requires math to underwrite math. Insurance companies do it every day. We are underwriting a known tiny risk that domains beyond 10 years from now will not become insanely expensive. You can read the detailed terms here:

https://www.epik.com/forever.php

Or buy one here:

https://www.epik.com/forever/

And if you could do it for Frank.com you might just do it, knowing that if you have a heart attack tomorrow, your family won't forget to renew your domain name. We also offer FOREVER HOSTING where you can post content forever, e.g. personal time capsules, etc.

Just because you did not conceive an idea yourself does not mean it is not clever, worthwhile, viable, and sustainable. This is one of those cases, but like the idea of a Creator of the Universe, sometimes you have to suspend disbelief, and have a tiny modicum of faith. :)

I expect we'll raise another $2 million shortly from value-added strategic investors, and that will likely be the last capital we ever raise as a private company. For calibration, I am ~75% owner of the company following recent capital raises and 2 tuck-in tech acquisitions.
 
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Frank, as usual, you have bad information.

Earlier in 2019 we raised capital at a common stock valuation of $10 million, In Q2, 2019, our revenues were $2.53 million up 71% versus Q1 2019. So far in 2019, we have also completed 2 important strategic acquisitions, BitMitigate.com and Sibyl Systems Ltd. The integrations for both are going very well.

The economics of a Forever.com are obvious. For $399, there is ample funding based on an 8% cost of capital at a .COM price of $19 or lower to fund the domain into perpetuity with a 10 years paid at the registry at all times. I will spare you the detail but you can be sure that we ran the numbers.

Yes, Frank, it requires math to underwrite math. Insurance companies do it every day. We are underwriting a known tiny risk that domains beyond 10 years from now will not become insanely expensive. You can read the detailed terms here:

https://www.epik.com/forever.php

Or buy one here:

https://www.epik.com/forever/

And if you could do it for Frank.com you might just do it, knowing that if you have a heart attack tomorrow, your family won't forget to renew your domain name. We also offer FOREVER HOSTING where you can post content forever, e.g. personal time capsules, etc.

Just because you did not conceive an idea yourself does not mean it is not clever, worthwhile, viable, and sustainable. This is one of those cases, but like the idea of a Creator of the Universe, sometimes you have to suspend disbelief, and have a tiny modicum of faith. :)

I expect we'll raise another $2 million shortly from value-added strategic investors, and that will likely be the last capital we ever raise as a private company. For calibration, I am ~75% owner of the company following recent capital raises and 2 tuck-in tech acquisitions.


thank you for the long answer
internal facts of epik are not common knowledge


the fact that you offer unlimited hosting really calms my mind...

as I quoted earlier

this company gen/(.)com
offered unlimited hosting during the Millenium switch

this company was offering lifetime (forever) free hosting packages
for like $245 USD one-time payments
gen.com
https://web.archive.org/web/19991104042044/http://members.gen.com/account_mgmt.htm


so please allow me to not be a believer
when it comes to "forever"-promises of a company
( I paid for the forever hosting at gen ...;) )

it's not a matter of faith and trust this time
that would not be good enough for forever I guess



still the question is unanswered
(at least I was unable to find the answer)


what exactly happens to a forever domain
when epik goes out of business for whatever reason?

what exactly happens to a domain
after the death of an owner
when the heritages know nothing about
domaining and the exact domain(s)









 
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Frank, as usual, you have bad information.

Earlier in 2019 we raised capital at a common stock valuation of $10 million, In Q2, 2019, our revenues were $2.53 million up 71% versus Q1 2019. So far in 2019, we have also completed 2 important strategic acquisitions, BitMitigate.com and Sibyl Systems Ltd. The integrations for both are going very well.

The economics of a Forever.com are obvious. For $399, there is ample funding based on an 8% cost of capital at a .COM price of $19 or lower to fund the domain into perpetuity with a 10 years paid at the registry at all times. I will spare you the detail but you can be sure that we ran the numbers.

Yes, Frank, it requires math to underwrite math. Insurance companies do it every day. We are underwriting a known tiny risk that domains beyond 10 years from now will not become insanely expensive. You can read the detailed terms here:

https://www.epik.com/forever.php

Or buy one here:

https://www.epik.com/forever/

And if you could do it for Frank.com you might just do it, knowing that if you have a heart attack tomorrow, your family won't forget to renew your domain name. We also offer FOREVER HOSTING where you can post content forever, e.g. personal time capsules, etc.

Just because you did not conceive an idea yourself does not mean it is not clever, worthwhile, viable, and sustainable. This is one of those cases, but like the idea of a Creator of the Universe, sometimes you have to suspend disbelief, and have a tiny modicum of faith. :)

I expect we'll raise another $2 million shortly from value-added strategic investors, and that will likely be the last capital we ever raise as a private company. For calibration, I am ~75% owner of the company following recent capital raises and 2 tuck-in tech acquisitions.
When are you taking Epik public?
 
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When are you taking Epik public?

No ETA on a public listing, but if it were to happen it would likely through Merger/Acquisition rather than going out through an investment banker.

Momentum is obviously building across several lines of business now, and we are simply focused on product superiority and customer service excellence.

Because of our relatively high capital efficiency, ther is a reasonable prospect for delivering stakeholder return without requiring the overhead of a public listing.
 
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How come we talk about "Frank Sch. ex-wife" ?
while those questions are still unanswered?

"Are the domains renewed past the 20 and 30 years? "

"So in the event, Epik ceases to exist or loses its registrar accreditation, will it be honored?"
and who will honor it.

"What happens when a customer dies to the domain?" ( exactly )

To my knowledge, a registrar is earning about $1 USD or less when selling
a .com domain at $8.49 USD
( my guess is: less than a dollar )

So for $27 USD profit
you have to renew a domain "forever"

So I guess the reason is not actually "peace of mind"
but to get receive a chunk of cash upfront.

Having read that you @Rob Monster
where formerly offering the registar epik for at a price
of only $50.000 USD to another company,
all this doesn't give me "peace of mind " at all.

Could you please clarify?


https://www.namepros.com/threads/if...ng-time-and-money.1119508/page-6#post-7329104



[...QUOTE]Hello Rob

Great financial analysis.

While we are talking about financials, why don't you post a copy of Epik's so your customers know what they are getting into?

You sent me a copy a few months ago when you approached me to sell Epik, remember? I'm not sure what account you hold your escrows in given in December 2018 you had less than $50,000 cash between your bank and Paypal accounts. That's not enough to even pay out all those people that you got to buy Masterbucks.

Regards
Matt[.../QUOTE]
 
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https://www.namepros.com/threads/if...ng-time-and-money.1119508/page-6#post-7329104



[...QUOTE]Hello Rob

Great financial analysis.

While we are talking about financials, why don't you post a copy of Epik's so your customers know what they are getting into?

You sent me a copy a few months ago when you approached me to sell Epik, remember? I'm not sure what account you hold your escrows in given in December 2018 you had less than $50,000 cash between your bank and Paypal accounts. That's not enough to even pay out all those people that you got to buy Masterbucks.

Regards
Matt[.../QUOTE]

We share our detailed financials with our investors and prospective investors. We are raising capital but do so on a very selective basis among people that we like and trust and who we think add value to our company. That is a key advantage of being a private company -- you get to decide who are the stakeholders.

As for treasury management, we hold value in many forms:

- Cash on deposit with banks
- Cryptos on deposit in various secure places
- Domain holdings, including more than 9,000 O&O domains valued at $30+ million
- Loans to customers secured by domains (this is a lot more than you might think!)
- Funds on deposit with registries (also more than you might think)

We completed 2 acquisitions this year and used cash with both transactions. We did also receive ~$500K in equity investment since Matt saw those financials. Another $2 million pending, of which $500K is committed for later this month from a Dubai investor..

Our business is executing well. Our revenues in Q2 were up 71% versus Q1. If you want to know, it was $2.53 million in Q2. We are projecting to end 2019 with $15 million in revenues. We may well exceed that since some large players are moving to Epik.
 
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