[council] Bulk Transfer of Domain Names from Planet Online and Name For Name to NamesBeyond

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

https://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-27jul12-en.htm
Bulk Transfer of Domain Names from Planet Online and Name For Name to 
NamesBeyond
27 July 2012

ICANN has authorized the bulk transfer of Planet Online Corp's gTLD domain 
names to 2030138 Ontario Inc. dba NamesBeyond.com ("NamesBeyond") due to a 
compliance action taken by ICANN that resulted in the de-accreditation of 
registrar Planet Online Corp.

ICANN has also authorized the bulk transfer of Name For Name, Inc.'s .com and 
.net names (which represent all gTLDs currently sponsored by Name For Name) to 
NamesBeyond as the result of the termination of Name For Name's 
registry-registrar agreement with Verisign Inc.

The affected gTLD registries are processing the bulk transfers. Former 
registrant-customers of Planet Online and Name For Name should soon receive 
notices from NamesBeyond of the transfer. Customer questions about the transfer 
should be directed to NamesBeyond, using the contact details provided below. 
Additional information about these bulk transfers is provided below.

FAQs
Q. Why were these transfers authorized by ICANN?

A. Planet Online's Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) was terminated by 
ICANN on 6 July 2012 because of Planet Online's failure to comply with the 
requirements of the RAA. (The notice of termination is posted at 
http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/burnette-to-zolfonoon-12jun12-en.pdf<https://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/burnette-to-zolfonoon-12jun12-en.pdf>
 [PDF, 222 KB]) As a result, Planet Online is no longer permitted to register 
or manage gTLD registrations.

Name For Name's Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA) with Verisign to register 
.com and .net names was terminated by Verisign on 16 July 2012. Name For Name 
currently has only five gTLD registrations under management, all in com and 
net. ICANN has notified Name For Name that it is in breach of its RAA with 
ICANN, which will be terminated on 2 August 2012 if the breaches are not cured. 
(The notice of breach is posted at 
http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/burnette-to-taame-12jul12-en.pdf<https://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/burnette-to-taame-12jul12-en.pdf>
 [PDF, 250 KB].)

ICANN authorized these bulk transfers pursuant to the Inter-Registrar Transfer 
Policy to ensure that the registrant-customers of these registrars would not be 
harmed by their registrars' discontinued ability to manage the registrations.

Q. How was the gaining registrar selected?

A. ICANN followed its De-Accredited Registrar Transition Procedure (see 
http://www.icann.org/en/processes/registrars/de-accredited-registrar-transition-procedure-01oct08.pdf<https://www.icann.org/en/processes/registrars/de-accredited-registrar-transition-procedure-01oct08.pdf>
 [PDF, 119 KB]) to identify a gaining registrar for Planet Online. Through this 
competitive process, NamesBeyond was selected. Due to the small size of Name 
For Name (5 domain names) NamesBeyond was asked to also accept these names.

Q. Will NamesBeyond attempt to contact the affected registrants? What should 
former Planet Online and Name For Name customers do?

A. Former customers of both registrars should receive a notice of the transfer 
and instructions for continued management of their names from NamesBeyond. 
Affected customers who do not receive notices from NamesBeyond should check the 
web page prepared by NamesBeyond for this bulk transfer at 
http://www.namesbeyond.com/planetonlinebulktransfer for additional information 
and contact details.

Q. Do registrants have to pay a fee for the bulk transfer?

A. No, there is no cost to registrants for the bulk transfer. Unlike a normal 
inter-registrar transfer, the registration terms will not be extended by a 
year. Accordingly, it is important to contact NamesBeyond if your registration 
will expire soon in order to maintain your registration.

Q. Why do former Planet Online and Name For Name customers need to contact 
NamesBeyond?

A. Neither Planet Online nor Name For Name participated in the bulk transfers 
therefore did not forward billing information to NamesBeyond. Accordingly, all 
registrants must provide updated billing information or transfer their names to 
other registrars.

Q. What if affected registrants want to select a different registrar?

A. Registrants will continue to be able to transfer their registrations to 
other registrars under the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (see 
http://www.icann.org/en/transfers/<https://www.icann.org/en/transfers/>). Note 
that NamesBeyond may deny transfers for the first 60 days following the bulk 
transfer, at its discretion. This 60-day period is permissible under the 
Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy and is intended to help protect registrants. 
The registrant may need to renew names that will expire during the first 60 
days following the transfer to NamesBeyond by contacting NamesBeyond at:

+ 1 877 321 1356 (Toll Free)
+ 1 817 564 2994
+ 1 215 750 2660
support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> or
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Q. How will Planet Online and Name For Name customers know if a message 
purportedly from NamesBeyond is legitimate?

A. The message from NamesBeyond should direct you to its website hosted at 
http://www.namesbeyond.com or refer you to other contact information provided 
above. If you believe a message purportedly from NamesBeyond is not legitimate, 
you should navigate to their web page directly, at 
http://www.namesbeyond.com/planetonlinebulktransfer. For general advice about 
avoiding phishing email messages, you may also wish to refer to the materials 
prepared by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (see 
http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html).


Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat
gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
http://gnso.icann.org