[ga] Afternic Auctioning register.com expireds
"With this in mind, Afternic is launching a test
bed. The concept is simple: When a registrar's names expire, they become
Afternic auctions. During the auction, members can claim any names they find
valuable. Those unclaimed at the end of the auction are returned to the pool of
available names. The first registrar participating in the test bed will be
Register.com. We hope to add more registrars in the coming weeks." (Taken from
the Afternic "Urly Indicator" Friday 10.19.01)
Is it me, or does this appear to be a
violation the registrar accreditation agreement insofar as unpaid domains
should be cancelled:
"3.7.5 Registrar shall register Registered Names to
Registered Name Holders only for fixed periods. At the conclusion of the
registration period, failure by or on behalf of the Registered Name Holder to
pay a renewal fee within the time specified in a second notice or reminder
shall, in the absence of extenuating circumstances, result in cancellation of
the registration. In the event that ICANN adopts a specification or policy
concerning procedures for handling expiration of registrations, Registrar shall
abide by that specification or policy."
By auctioning the domains, aren't Afternic
transferring the original domain to a new owner and thus the original registrar
retains the domain registration outside of the period paid for by the original
registrant?
Also, what rights do afternic have (and
register.com for that matter) in auctioning the domain rather than selling
at a fixed price (even though this too would appear a violation)? The
additional value in the domain over and above the registration fee is surely a
product of the original registrants efforts and not those of
afternic/register.com - so what happens to this and where has the registrant
consented to allow this?
I know afternic and greatdomains have for some
time sold at fixed price the neverpaids with a view to recovering the
admin costs, but this is the *auctioning* of expireds where the domain was
indeed paid for and the contract period ended.
Regards
Paul Cotton
|