Tucows at it again?

[Onward]

I got the following message from afternic regarding a dropping tucows domain name...the name has not been renewed according to whois and expired May 24th...



Dear XXXXXXX,

You have recently placed a preorder for xxxxxxx.com on Afternic. Unfortunately, the name is no longer available
for sale on Afternic and has been removed from the site. For this inconvenience, we are automatically extending
your membership for one year.



Has any one received similar messages?

 

[steveatvillas]

Yes, I got the exact same email today on an auction in which I was the winning bidder. See my post that you have just commented on.

http://www.dnforum.com/f26/afternic-tucows-running-tasting-auctions-thread-310736.html

My domain expired 17th May, went to auction 27th June, and auction closed on 2nd July. After two emails to support, I got the EXACT same email, only difference was my name and the domain.

This is not good.

 

[Onward]

Not good at all...


Anyone else?

 

[Anthony Ng]

My domain expired 17th May, went to auction 27th June, and auction closed on 2nd July.

I guess the dates tell the story here: Tucows' own registrar-level grace period is 40 days, so you have that domain in auction starting Jun 27. BUT THEN there's the official registry-level RGP, which lasts for another 30 days, during which the original owner is entitled to renew it for an extra $80 (at Tucows).

Just TODAY, I sold AND RENEWED an expired domain right before it falls into Redemption, and the whois at Tucows still shows the following output:

This domain name is up for auction for a limited time.
To place a bid, visit: http://www.afternic.com

 

[copper]

For this inconvenience, we are automatically extending your membership for one year.

Why do you need membership extended when you can not get the domains :?:

 

[Onward]

Why do you need membership extended when you can not get the domains :?:

LOL - Another year of not getting dropped names because Tucows wants them for their own portfolio :lol:

 

[Seraphim]

What I want to know is how are expiring domains outside of Tucows, ending up in their possession after avoiding the drop auctions? If you monitor thousands of expiring domains, you'll see this has been happening in volume for the last 6 months at least, and it's increasing in frequency. Can I prove they have back door deals with other registrars, certainly not, yet I'm 100% certain they do. Remember when people used to say corporate money missed out on domaining, not anymore.

 

[sashas]

The part that would piss me off would be the "We are automatically extending your membership".

Thanks for looking out for my business interests Afternic...sheesh

The behavior of the big players in this industry turn me more and more away from it every day

 

[Devil Dog]

The behavior of the big players in this industry turn me more and more away from it every day

Concur.

 

[Seraphim]

The behavior of the big players in this industry turn me more and more away from it every day

They can't seem to understand that corruption and underhanded tactics will ultimately hurt the value of their own investments, that being the .com. With new TLDs on the move next year, companies like Tucows that warehouse hundreds of thousands of lower end domains, could ultimately sink the .com ship in the long term. The .com isn't land, and I hate that analogy. Ethics aside, their game plan creates zero liquidity, and eventually end users will be forced to start new trends elsewhere.

 

[Anthony Ng]

companies like Tucows that warehouse hundreds of thousands of lower end domains

I am not aware of any warehousing activity by Tucows. Could you shed some light on that for us?

 

[Yofie]

I am not aware of any warehousing activity by Tucows. Could you shed some light on that for us?

Do you live under a rock? Tucows leaders have clearly admitted to "keeping" expired domains for their portfolio.

http://www.dotweekly.com/2008/04/16/tucows-holding-back-expired-4-letter-coms/#more-222

Comment #3 from Bill Sweetman (Tucows)

Some names are renewed by the original registrant before they reach the auction, and some of the names are retained by Tucows for our own portfolio (although we still allow the orginal registrant to reinstate the domain name if they want to).

http://www.dotweekly.com/2008/06/25/ok-this-is-my-last-rant-tucows-come-on/

Ken Schafer says (Vice President, Marketing and Product Management at Tucows)~ " We do review expiring names and we move a small percentage to our Domain Portfolio at the end of the 40 day Grace Period.

 

[Theo]

It's called "cherry picking" from the neighbor's yard.

 

[Anthony Ng]

Do you live under a rock?

Oh yes, I totally forgot reading about their domain portfolio news (when they acquired ItsYourDomain) elsewhere all the way back last year (but thanks for the links). :embarrassed: That's probably because as one of their resellers, my (biased) perception is that they are a neutral service provider (which they are really competent in that respect).

 

[Seraphim]

Tucows Warehousing

 

[Onward]

Well I just had it happen again on Afternic for another Tucows name...and it appears clear from the whois that tucows kept it for their portfolio without a competitve auction (which was originally in an afternic drop auction)...what a sad company....and what does this say about Afternic?

 

[katherine]

Each time I bid on a name I receive notification from Afternic that it's been removed. Shoddy business.

 

[DomainsInc]

Each time I bid on a name I receive notification from Afternic that it's been removed. Shoddy business.

Hey, thats how they find the good ones, lol.

 

[Onward]

Hey, thats how they find the good ones, lol.

Right Afternic and Tucows taste the names by having experienced domainers pick through the good ones...it is a great scam...we do all the research and they then take the name.

 

[mr-x]

They taste the names by parking them during the redemption period.