(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Web hosting provider Tiger Technologies (www.tigertech.net) claims that a few domain name registrars are preventing customers from transferring domain names from one registrar to another.
Tiger’s Robert Mathews says there have been several cases where customers who attempted to transfer domain names to the web host from popular domain registrars like Register.com, Go Daddy and Network Solutions have encountered issues.
Mathews says Register.com customers are often required to first pay a renewal fee. Meanwhile, other registrars may temporarily prevent transfers from occurring because a change in the contact details or “suspicious activity” associated with the account.
The company also adds that customers can contact its customer support department where its dedicated security team will investigate their account.
If the transfer request is seen as a legitimate one, the company will work with the customer to ensure a smooth transfer.
For large domain registrars, the blocking of domain transfers is often a necessary precaution they must take to preventing fraud.
One case that comes to mind is the long-drawn-out legal battle over the ownership of the lucrative sex.com, whose page consisted of various banners and links that generated between $50,000 and $500,000 per month in revenues.
Stephen Michael Cohen used a fraudulent fax to convince Network Solutions to transfer the domain, which was owned by Gary Kremen, over to him.
For several years, the two fought for the ownership of the domain in ongoing court appeals, and Kremen eventually sued VeriSign and Network Solutions for handing over his domain to another individual.
In Tiger’s blog, Mathews writes about his frustrations with the ICANN policy: “We’ve complained again and again to ICANN, but they don’t seem interested.”
ICANN’s Generic Names Supporting Organization is currently working to improve the policy.
However, since the number of TLDs is anticipated to grow exponentially next year with the introduction of customized gTLDs, the organization may have its hands full with updating other policies to prevent potential trademark violations and fraud.
