.uk Domains - Gone?

[Adamh]

Hello

I had my eye on a few .uk domains ready for the July release.

I have just rechecked availability and they mostly all appear to have been suddenly registered.

My understanding was that they were not available for 'general sale' until July? It seems like such a coincidence that 20+ unrelated domains have suddenly been registered after previously showing as available the week before.

Any idea?

 

[RobM]

They can be registered by the owners or the tagholders this week for free. Expect to see most things of value on 1AND1, 123REG, GODADDY disappear - I'll let you draw your own conclusion as to why. Having said that though we shouldn't see *any* domains that are registered now appearing in auctions later except from the current rightsholders/registrants....right?

 

[Adamh]

They can be registered by the owners or the tagholders this week for free. Expect to see most things of value on 1AND1, 123REG, GODADDY disappear - I'll let you draw your own conclusion as to why. Having said that though we shouldn't see *any* domains that are registered now appearing in auctions later except from the current rightsholders/registrants....right?

I wasn't aware that was even a possibility. Very annoying.

I that case, I just hope the fees for Go Daddys pre-registering service are refunded.

I thought it would be a fair playing field in July. Obviously not.

 

[RobM]

'I thought it would be a fair playing field in July.'

It's nominet.

 

[markb]

I have several .co.uk domains registered with 1and1 and was going to register the equivalent .uk domains before end of June, but I’ve just noticed they have now all been registered by 1and1.

Is there anyway I can register these myself?

Surely they shouldn’t be able to do this?

 

[RobM]

Are they in your account?

 

[markb]

I have found this link below on their website that says you can register .uk until 25th June.

https://www.ionos.co.uk/help/domain...d-the-right-domain/uk-rights-of-registration/

When I login to my account, it says next to my domains that I can register the .uk for free, but when I try to register any of them it says it’s already taken and the Whois shows that they have already been registered on 5th June.

 

[markb]

Are they in your account?

Hi Rob, no they are not in my account.

 

[RobM]

You need to contact them and see what their reasoning is. I assume you had the rights of registration with your main domains?

 

[markb]

I will do in the morning, for example I own the domain “animaljobs.co.uk”, in my account it says I can register the .uk for free, but it won’t let me and I notice the domain “animaljobs.uk” was registered on 3rd June and Whois says it’s registered by 1and1.

 

[RobM]

Keep us posted. That was registered before the cutoff so would have had rights. If 1and1 just give it to you make sure you contact nominet and ask them what's going on.

 

[martin-s]

And so it begins...

 

[dee]

all sounds very dodgy.

 

[markb]

A member on here just pm’d me asking me to check my nominet account, and when I’ve logged in, the .uk domains are all in my nominet account with an expiry date of a year. So looks like 1and1 has registered them all in my name on my behalf. I was panicking then as some of the domains are really valuable to me.

It’s strange that they aren’t displayed in my 1and1 account though. Maybe I have to pay to register them with 1and1 ?

 

[markb]

This looks related to the original thread issue. Maybe many registrars are automatically registering .uk domains on behalf of their clients. If 1and1 have done this maybe others will do the same.

Seems a big strange that they never sent me an email though letting me know about this. Many people are going to be panicking if they go to register the .uk and it’s not available.

 

[dazc]

Maybe many registrars are automatically registering .uk domains on behalf of their clients..

LCN have done the same.

 

[timter51]

Seems a big strange that they never sent me an email though letting me know about this. Many people are going to be panicking if they go to register the .uk and it’s not available.

Batshit crazy that they didn't email or show them in your account, seriously. You should have a pop at them.

 

[lazarus]

Wow.. What a big money making machine the big registrars have.

 

[philiporchard]

123-reg did something similar... it was hard to track the domains down because 123-reg had registered them and then put an identity lock on them.

 

[keys]

It would make sense for large Registrars to exercise rights on all .uk domains with potential value, at no cost. That leaves a year to be creative about monetising them. Any Registrants within ROR time limit can claim their .uk's, leaving the remainder in a large pool. This would only be visible to those directly involved.

Every additional .uk registered is positive for Nominet, to boost their numbers.

Similar practice has prevailed in .com land for years. Even without selling the domains there are ways to generate revenue.