Someone's trying to sell me a grandfathered .edu name. Scam?

[DataSN.com]

.edu name registration is not accessible to the public right? In all times, even when internet just started?

This should be a scam?

 

[RustyK]

That's the same dude at DP under Edu.org who wants $xxx,xxx for it and said he had buyers lined up but no sale. I doubt if he even owns an .edu

maybe .edu.pl but not .edu

 

[grcorp]

.edu name registration is not accessible to the public right? In all times, even when internet just started?

This should be a scam?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.edu

October 29th, 2001 was when they really cracked down on .edu registration.

Unless you're running an eligible educational outfit, you are not able to register a .edu domain name.

---------- Post added at 11:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 PM ----------

That's the same dude at DP under Edu.org who wants $xxx,xxx for it and said he had buyers lined up but no sale. I doubt if he even owns an .edu

maybe .edu.pl but not .edu

I've heard of workarounds like this, to include what's offered by rentanedu.com. Obviously, it will be recognized that the top-level is not ".edu", and as such, will not receive the same search engine benefits.

The only way somebody could "sell" you a .edu domain, would be to sell you the entity which owns the domain, and inherently, control of the domain. This would be a very costly undertaking, as I think a college could be pretty expensive.

You never know, though. You could raise the tuitions like all the other colleges do, and make way more than that .edu could ever cause you to earn.

If you've got an hour to spare, this is a great video on just how profitable colleges are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpZtX32sKVE&feature=pyv&ad=6739540474&kw=inflation

---------- Post added at 11:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:02 PM ----------

(please don't flag me for spamming - I know this is my third consecutive reply to this thread, but I'm just adding some new information I just noticed)

Per .edu FAQ...

The Cooperative Agreement between EDUCAUSE and the U.S. Department of Commerce specifies that all .edu names in existence as of October 29, 2001 are "grandfathered", regardless of current or past eligibility requirements.

This does not specify any regulations in order to transfer a .edu domain to an "ineligible" party, but I would still verify this with the .edu administration before either spending any time pursuing it and certainly before forking over any dough.

 

[katherine]

There are grandfathered .edu domains, but I don't know if grandfathering sill applies upon change of holder.

 

[DataSN.com]

Thanks a lot for all your input! I knew this guy was a scam..

 

[DomainMagnate]

Thanks a lot for all your input! I knew this guy was a scam..

Don't call people scams if you don't know the facts. I don't know about that particular person or his .edu domain, but grandfathered .edu's that were registered prior to 2001 are bought and sold. You only need to be an educational institution to register a new one, there are no definitive requirements for that if you buy an old one.

 

[DataSN.com]

Don't call people scams if you don't know the facts. I don't know about that particular person or his .edu domain, but grandfathered .edu's that were registered prior to 2001 are bought and sold. You only need to be an educational institution to register a new one, there are no definitive requirements for that if you buy an old one.

Sorry, my bad. From the posts above I thought the grandfathered .edu couldn't be traded to an non-eligible holder, a.k.a. non-educational institutions? Could it?

From the whois of the name, there is no email for Registrant. I tried to contact the Administrative email and Technical email which is the same and the guy got back to me with confirmation that he is the owner of the name who reached me and he is selling the name. Better get confirmation from the Registrant rather than other contacts?

He's offering high $xx,xxx. I think it's really a good deal for a .edu name which is such a rarity. But I'm afraid I would be deprived of the ownership once he sold the name off to me because: 1) I'm not an educational institution. 2) I'm a Chinese in China, and .edu is a rather prestigious top-level name of USA.

Does 'grandfathered' mean the .edu name can be absolutely and freely exchanged in the market? Just like any other .com names? Or do I still have to hold certain qualities to own a 'grandfathered' .edu name?

 

[grcorp]

Sorry, my bad. From the posts above I thought the grandfathered .edu couldn't be traded to an non-eligible holder, a.k.a. non-educational institutions? Could it?

From the whois of the name, there is no email for Registrant. I tried to contact the administrative email and technical email which is the same and the guy got back to me with confirmation that he is the owner of the name who reached me and he is selling the name. Better get confirmation from the Registrant rather than other contacts?

He's offering high $xx,xxx. I think it's really a good deal for .edu name which is such a rarity. But I'm afraid I would be deprived of the ownership once he sold the name off to me because: 1) I'm not an educational institution. 2) I'm a Chinese in China, and .edu is a rather prestigious top-level name of USA.

Does 'grandfathered' mean the .edu name can be absolutely and freely exchanged in the market? Just like any other .com names? Or do I still have to hold certain qualities to own a 'grandfathered' .edu name?

I don't believe that anybody here who has not at some point in their lives owned themselves, or personally knows somebody who meets such criteria, is in any position to answer this, given the arcane ownership eligibility criteria, and the complexity of the situation at hand.

OP, I think your best bet is to email "[email protected]" with your questions and post their answers here, since I would say we're all curious to know.

It really would be something to be able to own a .edu, though. A seller's market, no doubt, given how rare they are.

 

[Theo]

Grandfathered: that which will follow the set of rules that existed before the rules changed.
For more info visit http://net.educause.edu/edudomain/

From the FAQ:

Q: Why do some organizations have .edu domain names even though they do not meet the eligibility requirements?

A: The Cooperative Agreement between EDUCAUSE and the U.S. Department of Commerce specifies that all .edu names in existence as of October 29, 2001 are "grandfathered", regardless of current or past eligibility requirements.

 

[Dirty SEO]

Yes indeed you can buy the company that owns the grandfathered .EDU, acquiring the domain as an asset. Given the rarity of grandfathered .EDUs, this of course goes for a high price.

If you're interested, I can broker such a deal. I have contacts with multiple companies owning grandfathered .EDUs. (NOT country specific .edus such as nnn.edu.nn).

 

[DataSN.com]

So I got an email back from "[email protected]":

EDU domains cannot be given, sold, or in any other way transferred to another institution. EDU domains –even those grandfathered - must remain registered to the original registrant.

But seems to me it's still possible to trade the business entity that owns the .edu name, if not the .edu name itself.

 

[Onward]

I wish I would have bought a few of these when I had the chance...

 

[DataSN.com]

A senior policy director replied to my questions: http://www.kavoir.com/2011/06/buying-a-grandfathered-edu-domain.html

Names in the .edu domain are made available to registrants under conditions and policies specified by the U.S. Department of Commerce. In particular they are not "owned" by the registrant and therefore may not be sold or otherwise transferred. The contract included in your most recent message is thus in error in stating "…that this Business Entity is the sole beneficial owner of the domain name xxxxxx.edu, that said domain name is not encumbered in any manner…".

In your original e-mail you said: "Someone approached me to sell me a grandfathered .edu name." Such a sale would be invalid regardless of any attempt to embed that sale within another transaction. EDUCAUSE will not hesitate to disable any .edu name we find to have been sold or otherwise transferred in violation of policy.

— Steven, Senior Policy Director

Basically, they frown upon any such sales of the owner entity and would even go as far as disable the .edu name if it's in violation of the policies. Sounds very daunting to me but I doubt they would know if the deal stays low and everything with the original owner entity stays the same.

But still, does this mean all such sales (sales of the owner entity) are illegal?

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

How many different ways do you need to hear it? Yes, such sales are against policy. .EDU domains are for educational institutions, not admitted individuals from China. The main scammer here is you. You know this is a shady undertaking, yet you still try to find a way to do it.

By the way, I try to avoid doing business with people from your country. In virtually every instance where I have done business in China, the Chinese parties have breached and reneged on agreements.

And while I am on my rant, I don't like the brutal government that runs your country, the way they repress individual freedoms and the way they are stealing our military technology. And, I am extremely troubled by the Fellowes case:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/chi...iant-brought-to-its-knees-in-china-54204.html

If you want to emulate our country, you need to do alot more than short-cutting to the pay day. Start with our Constitution.

 

[grcorp]

Don't consider this to be legal advice.

Let's say the "owner" of the domain is Example Inc., "owning" Domain.edu. If Joe, the guy who is trying to sell you this domain, sells you the shares of Example Inc., then he has not sold you the domain. He has sold you the business, which is a perfectly legitimate transaction to be engaging in. The domain.edu domain has not been transferred to a different entity - its "ownership" remains the same.

I don't see how Educause would have any problem by it, especially since they have no way of knowing who owns the company which has been granted the rights to use the domain in question.

If I were you, I would seek the advice of a lawyer so as to ensure that

a) if Educause is to screw around with you and terminate the name, they're doing so within legislation, so that you can take action against them to reinstate the name if they take it away from you wrongfully

b) your transaction to effectively obtain control of the name does not violate some subtle-worded clause which would cause you to relinquish what you paid $xx,xxx for

 

[DomainMagnate]

Agree with grcorp, however this is indeed a somewhat shady business.

 

[DataSN.com]

Don't consider this to be legal advice.

Let's say the "owner" of the domain is Example Inc., "owning" Domain.edu. If Joe, the guy who is trying to sell you this domain, sells you the shares of Example Inc., then he has not sold you the domain. He has sold you the business, which is a perfectly legitimate transaction to be engaging in. The domain.edu domain has not been transferred to a different entity - its "ownership" remains the same.

I don't see how Educause would have any problem by it, especially since they have no way of knowing who owns the company which has been granted the rights to use the domain in question.

If I were you, I would seek the advice of a lawyer so as to ensure that

a) if Educause is to screw around with you and terminate the name, they're doing so within legislation, so that you can take action against them to reinstate the name if they take it away from you wrongfully

b) your transaction to effectively obtain control of the name does not violate some subtle-worded clause which would cause you to relinquish what you paid $xx,xxx for

Thanks for the advice! I figure sale of a business isn't under their jurisdiction and they can't deny something just because they don't like it. It's risky but owning an .edu is so cool and exciting!