.uk Domains - Gone?

Whois-Search said:

Fasthosts (same owner as 1&1) now asking you to call a phone number to claim your .uk registered under this promotion !

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There'll be some busy VoIP call centres and frenzied upselling; just hazarding a guess.

Whois-Search said:

Fasthosts (same owner as 1&1) now asking you to call a phone number to claim your .uk registered under this promotion !

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That suggests to me that they are registering the domains in their own ownership and will only give back if contacted. Surely all this is a breach of 'rights of registration' at this point in the cycle; for all anyone knows, these ROR owners are domain savvy and want to register their counterpart .uk's at the very last minute. This right is being taken away from them.

The whole thing is a shambles, I've said before that I'd much prefer it if all these rights are exercised by the respective owners leaving nothing left to catch, or that they are destroyed, but this whole practice does nothing more than gift large registrars the opportunity to auction off for significant amounts, and save on the reg fee too.

Free until renewal Nigel...

My online convo with Nominet - I asked exactly what 1and1 have done:

Nominet....
The domain has been registered to yourself using the same details as your .co.uk version
11:45:01
The domain does not need to be transferred to 1AND1
11:45:25
They have just registered it on you behalf using your details.
Me....
11:45:47
So I have 12 months to transfer to any I want to any register I choose. Is that correct? And 1and1 have no rights to the domains I don't choose to keep after that period?
Nominet
11:46:07
Correct

crazihos said:

The domain has been registered to yourself using the same details as your .co.uk version...The domain does not need to be transferred to 1AND1

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I thought when a registrar creates a domain, it has to be on their own tag. At least all the domains I have created using my registrar account have been on my own tag. So why are they saying the domain does not need to be transferred to 1AND1? Surely it is on that tag already? Or did they create them and detag them?

With all this domain creation without asking the customer, not charging the customer and not even putting it in their account, it looks a lot like the big registrars' motive is not so much to profit from it themselves but to reduce the pool of names for catchers.

jasman said:

I thought when a registrar creates a domain, it has to be on their own tag. At least all the domains I have created using my registrar account have been on my own tag. So why are they saying the domain does not need to be transferred to 1AND1? Surely it is on that tag already? Or did they create them and detag them?

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The .uk rights were on their own tags and they had a million of them between 1AND1 and LIVEDOMAINS.

You can create a .uk right from the .co.uk without asking the customer to approve an email. Only if the domain is on another tag to where they create the .uk does the Registrant need to approve the email.

Granted though it would have made sense to have in their terms and conditions that 1&1 have the ability to act on the registrants behalf and give them an opt-out.

jasman said:

With all this domain creation without asking the customer, not charging the customer and not even putting it in their account, it looks a lot like the big registrars' motive is not so much to profit from it themselves but to reduce the pool of names for catchers.

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Apart from Godaddy who obviously has Godaddy auctions....Registrars like 1&1 Ionos are not interested in registering names for themselves.

Their sole aim to get a high renewal rate next year on the 1 million .uk at £10 each and sell more hosting products.

Reducing the .uk pool for the secondary market is just a by-product of that and Nominet can say “they did it in the interests of the rights holders” rather than let the names go to the secondary market.

If we like it or not it is so easy to discredit the secondary market from catching those names.

I spoke to Nominet today, because Fasthosts had registered all these 'rights' .uk domains on June 10th and June 11th, including one of mine. Nominet seem to take the line that this is alright really, because it's giving people more time to claim their .uk name, a bit like extending the reservation date by a year. Nominet guy argued that it's better this way than someone being blackmailed to buy a matching domain at an extortionate price. I don't buy that argument. People have had FIVE years to do that. Also, Nominet is meant to operate to well-planned standards, as the guardian of UK domains. These mass-registrations by registrars goes against the stated intent of releasing the unclaimed domain names to the public this July. The fact this has been coupled with the offer of free registration made it all the easier for registrars to mass-register: in fact, it was like an open invitation.

I have only one domain I wanted to claim as a right, and at present I can't even do that, until I phone up Fasthosts individually. Thousands of people won't do that. The process is messed up. As someone has said, a company like Fasthosts aren't in the auction business - they are just hoping to give people time to sell them more registrations. But what will be worth watching is whether some registrars try to auction off names they've mass-registered once June 24th is past.

I can't believe, after the crazy and fraudulent .info release and the similar abuse of process with .biz, that nearly 20 years later simple process still can't be enforced, for the benefit of the general user. I ran a whistle-blowing site back in the day, called 'The Internet Challenge', where I called out registrars who were using fake copyrights to claim .info and .biz names. Even Afilias directors were faking rights of access to get choice names in their own release. Mass-registration of .uk domains, when the rights holders have not requested them, should have been ruled out from the beginning. It's not rocket science.

'As someone has said, a company like Fasthosts aren't in the auction business - they are just hoping to give people time to sell them more registrations.'

Keep a note of these domains - check them in a year and see where they end up. Then you can follow the money trail.

This thread reminds me why I gave up on Nominet completely, utterly and with every bone in my body a few years ago. Round about the time they became explicit about being for profit when the new CEO came in. Generally don't even read their news now. My sympathies go to everyone affected. Hope you manage to get your names back without exorbitant charges.

Can they not be sued, or action taken, for breaching nominet terms and conditions by registering domains that the registrant didn't request? We would surely only need to find one case to take this further?

Just received from Fasthosts Customer Support [email protected]

"Important announcement to all customers and domain registrants
Account No. xxxxxxx

Dear xxxxxx,

The rights of registration period for.uk domain names ends on 25th June 2019. Upon the launch of the new .uk domain extension in June 2014, the UK domain registry Nominet granted rights of registration to holders of existing .co.uk, .me.uk, .org.uk, .ltd.uk and .plc.uk domains and reserved the equivalent .uk versions. But with the ending of the rights of registration period, anyone can register unclaimed .uk domains from 6th July 2019.

Creating an online presence takes a lot of time and effort. If someone else registers your .uk domain, you or your organisation could be at risk of impersonation. The full impact of this is hard to estimate as it could include many elements such as time, lost sales, potential legal fees and reputational damage. While you may have a case to gain control of a .uk domain from another party, these processes are expensive and time-consuming. You could also get caught up in domain dispute processes, requiring you to demonstrate thoroughly that the domain is abusive before any action is taken by the registry.

We have also become aware that so-called "domain squatters" (who register and monetise domains associated with existing brands, organisations and individuals) are preparing to register any potentially valuable .uk domains once they are released to the public. While buying and selling domain names is not illegal, it is possible for domains to be registered in bad faith. For this reason, we have considered the impact this practice may have on our customers, who may not be fully aware of the risk it poses to themselves and their businesses. We have therefore decided that the best course of action, in our customers' interests, is for us to secure all our registrants' .uk domains for free for one year. This will prevent and limit any damage caused by third parties' uncontrollable behaviour.

Of course, if you do not want the domain it can be left to expire or cancelled with immediate effect; we just require your consent to release the domain publically prior to expiry. Alternatively, if you require the domain please email [email protected] we can verify you as the owner of the qualifying existing domain and assist you with transferring the new .uk domain to your Fasthosts account. Please note that if you take this action you will be responsible for any renewal fees for further years applied once the free first year has lapsed. You also have the ability to set the domain to expire if it is no longer required.

For a step-by-step guide, see our article on .UK Rights of Registration

Domains were secured in June 2019 and will be released back into the public pool if no claim is made.

For more information, please visit https://www.fasthosts.co.uk/uk-rights-secured

If you have any questions, please contact us.

Kind regards,

The Fasthosts Customer Support Team"

I thought the "domain squatters" paragraph was particularly daft - and I question how it is they are even able to block register all their customers' domains?

LOL... Well done Fasthosts.... Whatever would we do if you didn't have our backs.

index2703 said:

Just received from Fasthosts Customer Support [email protected]

"Important announcement to all customers and domain registrants
Account No. xxxxxxx

Dear xxxxxx,

The rights of registration period for.uk domain names ends on 25th June 2019. Upon the launch of the new .uk domain extension in June 2014, the UK domain registry Nominet granted rights of registration to holders of existing .co.uk, .me.uk, .org.uk, .ltd.uk and .plc.uk domains and reserved the equivalent .uk versions. But with the ending of the rights of registration period, anyone can register unclaimed .uk domains from 6th July 2019.

Creating an online presence takes a lot of time and effort. If someone else registers your .uk domain, you or your organisation could be at risk of impersonation. The full impact of this is hard to estimate as it could include many elements such as time, lost sales, potential legal fees and reputational damage. While you may have a case to gain control of a .uk domain from another party, these processes are expensive and time-consuming. You could also get caught up in domain dispute processes, requiring you to demonstrate thoroughly that the domain is abusive before any action is taken by the registry.

We have also become aware that so-called "domain squatters" (who register and monetise domains associated with existing brands, organisations and individuals) are preparing to register any potentially valuable .uk domains once they are released to the public. While buying and selling domain names is not illegal, it is possible for domains to be registered in bad faith. For this reason, we have considered the impact this practice may have on our customers, who may not be fully aware of the risk it poses to themselves and their businesses. We have therefore decided that the best course of action, in our customers' interests, is for us to secure all our registrants' .uk domains for free for one year. This will prevent and limit any damage caused by third parties' uncontrollable behaviour.

Of course, if you do not want the domain it can be left to expire or cancelled with immediate effect; we just require your consent to release the domain publically prior to expiry. Alternatively, if you require the domain please email [email protected] we can verify you as the owner of the qualifying existing domain and assist you with transferring the new .uk domain to your Fasthosts account. Please note that if you take this action you will be responsible for any renewal fees for further years applied once the free first year has lapsed. You also have the ability to set the domain to expire if it is no longer required.

For a step-by-step guide, see our article on .UK Rights of Registration

Domains were secured in June 2019 and will be released back into the public pool if no claim is made.

For more information, please visit https://www.fasthosts.co.uk/uk-rights-secured

If you have any questions, please contact us.

Kind regards,

The Fasthosts Customer Support Team"

I thought the "domain squatters" paragraph was particularly daft - and I question how it is they are even able to block register all their customers' domains?

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So they have squatted on the domains instead?

Also will they park the untaken .uk to earn parking revenue for themselves or not assign nameservers to them. It will be interesting to see what they do with then.

Unbelievable... have we got a list going of all the registrars who have been doing this?

SecNam said:

So they have squatted on the domains instead?

Also will they park the untaken .uk to earn parking revenue for themselves or not assign nameservers to them. It will be interesting to see what they do with then.

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How about offering to submit offers to "Registrants" (hidden by GDPR) for a fee. This works well with large portfolios of .com's, even low uptake on 1m or so .uk domains could be money for nothing.

It is surprising that a number of customers, who normally do single year co.uk renewals, are opting for 10 year Registrations of their .uk's.

I think recent publicity has created some interest in .uk's. This morning I accepted £900 offer for a good generic .uk leftover.