Rob_F

I've noticed over the last couple of days that a few 123-reg domains that should have dropped were transferred at the last minute to UK3.com. All three were registered to different people so it seems highly unlikely that this is a case of individual owners releasing/transferring the domains to UK3.

Looks to me like there is an agreement between 123-reg and UK3.com Limited to release/transfer selected domains predrop?

The three domains in question are...

bigidea.co.uk – transferred but still registered to original owner.
infraredsauna.co.uk – transferred .
ukulele.co.uk – transferred but still registered to original owner.

Can someone at 123-reg please confirm/deny that such an agreement exists.

Thanks,
Rob

namestrands

I think nominet needs to nip this in the bud as it interferes with the natural order. I understand that there are new T&Cs at some registrars that allow them to take ownership of the domain after X days of expiration and I understand that Nominet is onboard albeit someone reluctant.

Are we going to go the way of the TLDs where the big registrars monopolise registrations and dropcatching?.. I think all registrars on here should ask Nominet to reconsider this practice and amend its Terms to prevent it from happening.

monaghan

I understand that some registrar's T&C's grant the registrar permission to do this if the registrant doesn't renew.

In my opinion, if all names are available first come first served, then all non-renewed domains should go via the published deletion cycle and not into automatic auction.

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GreyWing

I agree 100% with you, what I'd add to it is....

Regardless of what T&C's the registrars have with the customer, if a registrar then go onto Nom's website and state they are the registered owner before they register the name. So at the point of transfer of registrant they are committing fraud by lying to Nominet. They are obtaining goods by deception.

They may claim that they have an agreement with their customer, but remember that customer does not own the domain, only is the registrant at Nominet.

As I was saying yesterday to fagend, what they are doing is changing the records of the registered email in their customers control panel and going to the Nominet control panel and doing a password reset request. They can then login and initiate a transfer. It's clearly wrong and should be clamped down on by Nominet.

But if any registrar tries to defend this process then let's go one step further, why does it have to be last minute when they take it? Why can't there be a hidden clause (probably as this is) that states that if your domain ever has less than 500 days of registration left, the registrar can take it. If it is in 123-reg's contract with the customer, is that allowed? If not, what's the difference between that and what is going on other than a figure they have plucked out of the air as to when they transfer it.

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grantw

Chris of uk3 is a member on here so maybe he'll confirm what's going on.

This is in 123reg's terms:

As GW says though, regardless of registrar terms, ticking the box to say you're authorised to transfer a domain you don't own is very dodgy ground!

Did you ever get an update from Nominet on all this Rob, seem to remember you were talking to them about it?

Grant

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GreyWing

.... duplicated

pred

just noticed 123 are offering a backorder service too

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Systreg

Noticed these 2 that were supposed to drop today are now moved to CHC yesterday:

mothersdaypresent.co.uk
mothersdaypresents.co.uk

And this one due to drop tomorrow has also been passed over:

moreno.co.uk

Proper fecking shabby ain't it.

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Rob_F

It is indeed. I blame Nominet for allowing this kind of dodgy practice to continue. They've known about it for ages and should have nipped it in the bud yonks ago. It reflects badly on them, and on the industry as a whole.

I should point out that I'm usually a big supporter of Nominet. IMO, for the most part, they run the .uk registry extremely well. This however, is just plain wrong.

- Rob

namestrands

Perhaps as members we should whip together a petition and submit to nominet to abolish such practice. It goes against the grain of fairness and is therefore anti-competitive.