Registrars sought as Pool.com shuts down drop-catching business
ICANN is looking for new homes for approximately 67,000 domain names, after a decision by Momentous to dump 85 of its domain name registrar accreditations.
The accreditations were used primarily for drop-catching, according to an email sent to registrars last Friday, and each has between 200 and 3,000 gTLD domains under management.
While most affected domains are recently caught drops, there may be some regular registrants scattered throughout the customer base, according to ICANN.
Momentous, owner of Pool.com, announced that it was getting rid of its drop-catching registrars in an email to customers late last year, as several domainer blogs reported at the time.
Pool plans to “refocus its business away from an emphasis on the secondary market”, the email said.
The company wanted to consolidate all of the domains in its NameScout registrar with the transfer fees waived, but ICANN declined its request, according to the email.
Some customers are not happy with how Pool has handled the situation.
The domainer “Acro” is currently pursuing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in Momentous’ native Canada, according to a recent blog post.
The 85 accreditations are due to expire January 10. Registrars wishing to take over the portfolios had a deadline of this afternoon to express an interest with ICANN.
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Wow! With 67,000 domain names assisting pool.com in drop catching domains, its no wonder why they were the best. I have successfully used Pool in the past to catch names for my real estate domain names website at http://www.turff.com.
Does anyone have a list of the 67,000 domain names they are letting go? Will the public be able to bid on them?
Tom
There are people out there that have hundreds of domains under management in Pool-controlled registrars, some of which were caught at prices far exceeding the basic $69 fee.
My report of this to BBB serves as an official recording of the method that Pool used to handle this mass pull out from the dropcatching market.
@Tom instead of being busy spamming your URL, perhaps you should read more carefully next time.
One has to wonder if anyone has an intrest in this, sure if GD steps in most domainers will be happy.
If they end up at another registrar most likely, they will face alot of transfers…. out…
I am aware this is how things go. But this ICANN procedure is obsolete imo,
The 60 day thing should go in these circumstances so registrants can move out to the registrar of their choice.
I guess this will need another WG to point out the flaw here,
ccTLD face this issue also and have better procedures in place, not flawless but better.
Does anyone know what the 85 registrars are that will be affected by this?
Kimberly, here’s a link: http://domaingang.com/domain-news/is-pool-com-shutting-down-all-85-of-its-registrars-in-canada/
Let’s face it domain industry is slowly dying.
If you run a business you still need a domain and a website but investing in thousands of domains is
over.