Strange whois - registrar hoarding for themselves ?!

[beatz]

Hi,

came across this whois:

whois: xxxxx.NET
Authoritative whois at whois.domainname.com

Archetopia RIPE(tm) WHOIS server version 2.0.2-2.3.0

The data in DomainName, Inc.'s WHOIS database is provided by DomainName,
Inc. for informational purposes only and to assist persons in obtaining
information about or related to a domain name's registration records.
DomainName, Inc. provides this data "as is" and without any guarantee of
the accuracy of the data provided.
By submitting a WHOIS query you agree that you will use this data only
for lawful purposes and that, under no circumstances will you use this
data to: 1) allow, enable, or otherwise facilitate or support the
transmission of any unsolicited advertising of any type or solicitation
by way of conventional or electronic mail or telephone; or 2) enable or
facilitate any high-volume or automated electronic processes to query
the DomainName, Inc. WHOIS database or any systems related thereto.
DomainName, Inc. reserves the right to change these terms at any time.
By submitting this query you agree to abide by these terms.

Domain Name: XXXXX.NET

Registrant:
Domain Administrator
Pre-Registered Domains
P.O. Box 100
Newburyport MA 01950 US

Administrative, Technical Contact:
Domain Administrator [email protected]
Pre-Registered Domains
P.O. Box 100
Newburyport MA 01950 US
No Calls Please

Created: 07-Mar-1996
Changed: 2-Jul-2005
Expires: 06-Mar-2007

Domain Name Service:
dns1.domainname.com
dns1.reserved.net

The domain is a very valuable one.

Now here is what is strange:

- Registrant's adress is the same as the registrars, domainname.com

- "Domain Administrator" and "Pre-Registered Domains" - apart from the question if these details really comply with ICANN rules, what is "pre-registered domains" ?!

- Whois details for preregistereddomains.com are the same as for this name and share the same address of the registrar, domainname.com

- Preregistereddomains.com is basically a for sale/contact page where you can offer to buy a name from them.

Interesting to read their carefully worded page which basically is saying "We make it look like we need the names for or own projects to cover our *** as a registrar but yes, our names are for sale if your offer is high enough".

Soo...what's that mean ?

It sure looks to me like domainname.com(=preregistereddomains.com) as a registrar either registers names for themselves to sell them later for profit or keeps names from customers to as well sell these names.Or both.

Shouldn't such a practice be against ICANN regulations for registrars ?!

 

[Dave Zan]

Interesting. Favor, though: can you post the remaining details such as status,
servers, etc.?

 

[denny007]

Why a registrar couldn't own domains ? I am also considering to become an accredited registrar only for MY OWN needs.

 

[Focus]

it costs ALLLLLOOTT of money to become a registrar...just ask our good friends over at i.net the price tag on that idea...these companies hoarding domains is nothing new at all...netsol has been doing it for many years with top expired domains they mysteriously renew and then end up with some strange new whois details that all emails bounce back from, etc..without ever dropping

 

[denny007]

it costs ALLLLLOOTT of money to become a registrar...just ask our good friends over at i.net the price tag on that idea...these companies hoarding domains is nothing new at all...netsol has been doing it for many years with top expired domains they mysteriously renew and then end up with some strange new whois details that all emails bounce back from, etc..without ever dropping

Define "ALLLLLOOTT"
http://www.icann.org/registrars/accreditation-financials.htm
is this amount "ALLLLLOOTT" for you ?

 

[Focus]

This is not an exhaustive list of all costs involved in becoming an accredited registrar, but is meant only as a helpful listing of some costs registrar applicants should be prepared to pay in connection with becoming an ICANN accredited registrar.

go for it dude..let us know how it goes k:

 

[MarcoRinaudo]

Becoming an accredited ICANN Registrar is not extremely expensive. As denny007 pointed out the initial investment is relatively low. However there is no warranty your application would be approved, the final decision is up to ICANN. Also you have to show you really have advanced technical knowledge and enough funds (i.e. minimum 70K USD to invest). It took me about 6-8 months to complete the full process plus 1 month to prepare my application and supporting documents. Also ICANN is very often asking for extra details if your application is not extremely detailed including specific technical details such as Whois data reminder handling and access to the shared registry system, etc... Eventually when and if you get accredited you cannot start registering domains immediately, you have to get in touch with each gTLD Registry (i.e. Verisign for .com/.net) and get a technical certification. Then establish a line of credit and make either a pre-paid deposit or obtain a warranty from an acceptable and reputable financial institution.... You also have to provide some extra financial details such as a proof of insurance for over a million dollar on "commercial liabilities..." and trust me it is not extremely easy to persuade an insurance broker to issue it...even though I eventually managed to obtain it.
You really need specific tech. competences and skills to create a set of encrypted scripts to communicate with the Registry using an SSL connection, in general using the EPP protocol or the old RRP protocol. Remember there is no web interface to insert a domain into and register it, you need some scripts and you have to make your own or adapt some provided as example by the Registry.
All in all you invest a lot of time and possibly money in order to pay a .com domain USD6.00 plus ICANN variable fees (around 30-50 cents per domain) plus ICANN per Registrar shared fees (around 1000-2000 every quarter if you are a small player...) and you also have important legal commitments and responsibilities...
I personally would not recommend going through all this if you only want to become accredited for "personal usage". Now it's up to you to decide.

Best regards,
Marco Rinaudo - CEO
Internet.bs Corp - Official ICANN and EURid accredited Registrar
http://www.internet.bs

 

[EGS]

That is true...paying $2500 for a rejected application would be quite a bummer.

 

[actnow]

Marco omitted a few stumbling blocks. But, you will find them as you move thru
the process.

Are you technically skilled enough to prevent hackers from initiating transfers out
of your personal registrar?

How about when they enter your acct and register a lot of worthless domains,
and you don't discover it for 6 days. At that point, you own them.

You can buy a back office setup but figure another $ 0.75 to $ 1.00 per domain on top
of the mandatory fees mentioned above.

But, that will not protect you from hackers.

Could that explain why all of the largest domain owners do not own their own
credentials?

Even the largest registrars get attacked daily by hackers. And, I'm sure the hackers
occasionally succeed.

The major registrars (Enom, Godaddy, Moniker, etc) are able to offer low prices
because of the economic principle - "economy of scale".

Reduction in cost per unit resulting from increased production, realized through operational efficiencies.

I don't know if it is true but I speculate that Icann does not want domainers applying
for credentials knowing all of the problems that they might face. Especially, since
it is so easy and cheaper to work with the major registrars.

I believe the last (only?) registrar that failed was a couple years ago.
And, they want to keep that way.

 

[denny007]

Yeah its pretty difficult but major registrars probably do not allow me "domain tasting" 1-2 millions domains/month...

 

[actnow]

Yeah its pretty difficult but major registrars probably do not allow me "domain tasting" 1-2 millions domains/month...

Wow, I'm impressed.

To do 1 mil domains a month it requires $ 200,000 for each day you hold them.

33,333 domains a day.
$ 6.00 cost for .com (The $ 0.25 kicks in later.)

So, if you hold them for 4 days, it would require at least $ 800,000 in your Verisign acct.

Plus, if you keep 1% of the domains because they produce some traffic, that is 333
domains a day.

333 x $ 6.25 = $ 2,081. a day. $ 62,500. a month in add'l registration.

And, you have to have a cushion for that day you forget to delete them on the 4th day. Or, for some reason, you don't have a connection to Verisign.
As you are saying to yourself "that would never happen". See the link below.

Similar to the error Directnic did last month and it cost them $ 2 million dollars.

http://www.dnforum.com/thread166853.html

If you are interested in doing this, I can get you in touch with a consultant/advisor
who can help you with this.

But, I think you will find that it is not as easy as it looks.

 

[katherine]

I'm not sure the registrars pay upfront for the registrations they make...
I would assume they are billed monthly and there is a deposit/guarantee to cover non-payment of domains (within a certain threshold). So the domains tasted will not be paid for.
Mr Rinaudo ?


It's much easier and affordable to become a UK tag holder or registrar for ccTLDs than get gTLD credentials... For .eu you need a deposit of EUR 10000, for .us much less...
There is also speculation with ccTLDs and some people are quite active in the game indeed. There is a lot of talk about gTLD drops but very little about ccTLDs drops. There is money in the other exts too.

 

[Validweb]

Denny, would you consider becoming an Icann registrar if for some reason 'domain tasting' was no longer available?

I'm not confident that domain tasting will be available forever.
thanks

 

[1234567]

Why a registrar couldn't own domains ? I am also considering to become an accredited registrar only for MY OWN needs.

We are also considering having our own registrar as well.

Hi is it possible to JV on the registrar setup?

Or someone else is interested to do so?

 

[actnow]

If you are seriously considering setting up your own credential, I would suggest
you contact Stevan Lieberman.
[email protected]

He has done it for some of the major and mid-size players.

You will find trying to do it on your own, you will waste 1 yr of trial and error.

Furthermore, he can help you "contract" for the back office part of running
a registrar credential.

If you have a nice quantity of domains or if you have a number of valuable domains,
it will pay to own your own credential.

Just remember, it is another type of business function which you should not
enter into lightly.