CircleID

In follow up to reports on ICANN's termination of notorious domain name registrar, EstDomains due to fraudulent activities, the Internet oversight agency is now preparing to transfer domain names of its customers to other registrars. "As the result of the de-accreditation of EstDomains, Inc. ICANN is seeking Statements of Interest from ICANN-accredited registrars that are interested in assuming sponsorship of the gTLD names that had been managed by EstDomains," says ICANN's announcement. EstDomains managed approximately 280,000 domain names.

However the question asked by experts is whether any other registrar would have an interest in inheriting EstDomains questionable domain names. "I don't think anyone in their right mind is going to want to take on these domain names," said Chris Barton, research scientist for McAfee AVERT Labs. "A registrar would have to be either very reckless or very brazen to consider it."

Updates:
EstDomains Update: Notice of Termination Stayed (ICANN - 10/30/2008)
ICANN delays shutting down spammy Estonian registrar (Network World - 10/30/2008)

Related Stories:
ICANN De-Accredits EstDomains for CEO's Fraud Convictions (Brian Krebs, Washington Post - 10/29/2008)
Three cheers for ICANN! (Chris Barton, McAfee Research Scientist - 10/29/2008)
F-Secure on EstDomains Case (F-Secure - 10/29/2008)
EstDomains, Inc. Whacked by ICANN (Danny McPherson, Arbor Networks - 10/29/2008)
Notorious registrar gets deactivation notice for president's sin RIP EstDomains (Dan Goodin, The Register - 10/29/2008)

Related topics: Cybercrime, Domain Names, ICANN, Internet Governance, Law