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ICANN (the global body who oversees domain name registrations)
has come up with a new system to manage domain names
that expire. It has been adopted by Verisign / Network
Solutions - the registrars for all US based domains.
Under the old rules, your domain name and email would
stop working if it expired. For many people, this was
a wake up call to renew it. Pay the money, and you are
back in business.
If you didn't renew it after a certain period, the
domain registrar would delete it from the registry and
it would be released into the open market. If nobody
else wanted it, you could re-register it. If someone
else had registered it - too bad.
Under the new system, when a registrar deletes the
name from the registry it goes into a new status called
"Redemption Period".
The original owner then has to pay a fee ( set at
a maximum $US 85 by ICANN) plus the renewal costs to
get their domain name back. However, people who have
been in this situation advise that they have been asked
for $US 200 to recover the domain name (plus the cost
of renewal)
What happens after the Redemption Period is a bit
unclear. The ICANN paper says that the names are then
released
for re-registration at normal prices. However, we have
heard that Verisign intend to put them up for auction,
where the minimum bid is $US 200.
AVOID THESE HASSLES AND EXPENSE: Renew your domain
name on time.
WebAngel domain registration clients automatically receive
free notice of domain name renewals.
The actual briefing paper from the ICANN General Counsel
is at http://www.icann.org/minutes/report-vgrs-rgp-consolidate-23feb03.htm
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