.co.uk bought, then .uk registered

[tifosi]

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." ~Arthur Conan Doyle~

It's not me!

next...

 

[Sound]

It's not me!

 

[cm1975]

To end the speculation, the seller was Morgan Media.

Q - "I was wondering what Morgan Media's policy was on the right of registration of a .uk domain relating to the sale of a .co.uk domain?"

A - "It very much depends on the situation. In the case of ******.co.uk for example, knowing that you were also an Acorn member, I decided it would be nice if I registered the .uk for you and transferred them both at the same time. Normally I would leave that to the new registrant but I'm pretty sure we've done business before so thought it would be a nice thing to do."

The initial transfer request only included *******.co.uk.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions on this. However, both of these domains have been transferred successfully at no extra cost.

-------

This obviously does not fix the problem regarding the potential for people to exploit the system when using Sedo. I have had the following replies from Sedo -

This is a matter which we have been discussing for some time here at Sedo, and we are working on finding the best solution to this unique challenge, we hope to have one soon, but I’m sure you can understand it is a very complicated process!

and

In general our position on this matters is that only the .co.uk domain get sold at the Sedo marketplace and not the rights on the .uk if this domain is unclaimed at the point of sale.

Let me say that we take your concerns very serious and I have asked our legal department to review the case in particular but also the whole .co.u/.uk situation.

Basically, don't touch Sedo for co.uk domains, especially at Buy It Now!!!

 

[cm1975]

I've learned a valuable lesson here which is don't make comments based on such little information. Gerald is a good friend and if you'd told us who you were dealing with in the initial post I'd have happily vouched for him instead of calling him a "devious twat"

Sean, I made a conscious decision to not to name the seller until there was some kind of resolution. I have sold domains to them on one occasion, but I cannot judge someone on that single transaction, especially as I was the seller on that occasion.

It's interesting that you formed the same opinion as myself on the information that was available!

Anyway, it's resolved and I think we can all take something from this.

It's still early days of .uk domains and we're all still on a learning curve!

 

[archibel]

QUOTE: This is a matter which we have been discussing for some time here at Sedo, and we are working on finding the best solution to this unique challenge, we hope to have one soon, but I’m sure you can understand it is a very complicated process!

Dear SEDO I am truly sorry to hear you are struggling with this hugely complex issue. Let me save your Legal Team from further stress and strain.

Simply state clearly on .co.uk listings whether or not the sale includes .uk you useless muppets!!

 

[Retired_Member38]

QUOTE: This is a matter which we have been discussing for some time here at Sedo, and we are working on finding the best solution to this unique challenge, we hope to have one soon, but I’m sure you can understand it is a very complicated process!

Dear SEDO I am truly sorry to hear you are struggling with this hugely complex issue. Let me save your Legal Team from further stress and strain.

Simply state clearly on .co.uk listings whether or not the sale includes .uk you useless muppets!!

Its rather pathetic that they're continuing with this - its just treating all their customers like they're stupid.

Its surely a 5 minute discussion to decide the best (obvious and only really!) route to go here, then another very quick fix for their tech people to implement it. Its ridiculous that it wasn't already in place on launch day.

 

[bonusmedia]

Good result - looks like an Acorn thread can be quite effective...

Are you listening, Nokta?

 

[monaghan]

Surely it is quite simple, Nominet declared (in most cases) the .uk is the right of the .co.uk holder. If you register the .uk and sell the .co.uk they are 2 separate entities, if you sell the .co.uk and have not registered the .uk at the time of sale then the entire rights associated with the .co.uk are sold unless you make an alternative agreement prior to the sale.

 

[Retired_Member38]

Surely it is quite simple, Nominet declared (in most cases) the .uk is the right of the .co.uk holder. If you register the .uk and sell the .co.uk they are 2 separate entities, if you sell the .co.uk and have not registered the .uk at the time of sale then the entire rights associated with the .co.uk are sold unless you make an alternative agreement prior to the sale.

Its not really that simple though if you leave it to Nominet. As when is the time of sale? When the sellers accepts the offer? To me that would be the most logical time to assume a contract is in place.

So someone could make an offer, the seller then registers the .uk and immediately accepts the offer. Now the buyer is legally obliged to go through with it, knowing (assuming he's checked again, he might not) that he is now not getting the .uk he thought he was getting.

Anything other than Sedo putting a tick box on auction listings to say whether the .uk is included or not, is just idiocy.

 

[diablo]

To end the speculation, the seller was Morgan Media.

Q - "I was wondering what Morgan Media's policy was on the right of registration of a .uk domain relating to the sale of a .co.uk domain?"

A - "It very much depends on the situation. In the case of ******.co.uk for example, knowing that you were also an Acorn member, I decided it would be nice if I registered the .uk for you and transferred them both at the same time. Normally I would leave that to the new registrant but I'm pretty sure we've done business before so thought it would be a nice thing to do."

The initial transfer request only included *******.co.uk.

 

[anthony]

Its not really that simple though if you leave it to Nominet. As when is the time of sale? When the sellers accepts the offer? To me that would be the most logical time to assume a contract is in place.

So someone could make an offer, the seller then registers the .uk and immediately accepts the offer. Now the buyer is legally obliged to go through with it, knowing (assuming he's checked again, he might not) that he is now not getting the .uk he thought he was getting.

Anything other than Sedo putting a tick box on auction listings to say whether the .uk is included or not, is just idiocy.

This is why I think Nominet's hand should be forced on the issue via a DRS decision.

 

[Retired_Member38]

This is why I think Nominet's hand should be forced on the issue via a DRS decision.

It still won't help as people have the option of bypassing Nominet and taking legal action against you. One small tick box on Sedo makes all these issues go away...

 

[diablo]

This is why I think Nominet's hand should be forced on the issue via a DRS decision.

Nominet could make buyers aware whether or not .uk rights accompany a name at the point of transfer.

Currently you get this message while completing a transfer:

A request has been made to transfer the following domains to you:

Chosen Domain
XXXXX.co.uk
Completing this transfer will cost you £12.00 (inc. VAT) payable online during the process.

Please choose whether to decline the request or continue with the transfer.

They just need to insert a line before the decline or accept bit, saying:

Rights to XXXXX.uk do (or do not) accompany this transfer.

That would still leave a gaping hole for transfers not done via Nominet, but would alert more buyers to any sleight of hand.

That said, I'm still amazed Nominet has not done more to make people aware of .uk. Nobody I talk to outside of the domaining world has heard of it, even if they use domains for their business. It comes as a complete surprise to them that they have rights to the .uk equivalent of a .co.uk (rights that are ticking away as I type). At the very least the planned email to all rights holders should have been sent by now.

 

[ian]

Nominet could make buyers aware whether or not .uk rights accompany a name at the point of transfer.

Currently you get this message while completing a transfer:

A request has been made to transfer the following domains to you:

Chosen Domain
XXXXX.co.uk
Completing this transfer will cost you £12.00 (inc. VAT) payable online during the process.

Please choose whether to decline the request or continue with the transfer.

They just need to insert a line before the decline or accept bit, saying:

Rights to XXXXX.uk do (or do not) accompany this transfer.

That would still leave a gaping hole for transfers not done via Nominet, but would alert more buyers to any sleight of hand.

That said, I'm still amazed Nominet has not done more to make people aware of .uk. Nobody I talk to outside of the domaining world has heard of it, even if they use domains for their business. It comes as a complete surprise to them that they have rights to the .uk equivalent of a .co.uk (rights that are ticking away as I type). At the very least the planned email to all rights holders should have been sent by now.

Would be quite easy for the seller to register the .uk after the transfer email has been sent, but before it has been actioned. I doubt Nominet would want to open themselves up to such risk.

 

[diablo]

Would be quite easy for the seller to register the .uk after the transfer email has been sent, but before it has been actioned. I doubt Nominet would want to open themselves up to such risk.

I'm not talking about the transfer email. The above is at the point of action.