Uniregistry to Registrants: Configuration Error in Your Favor

I recently received an email from an upset domain investor who had at least one new gTLD domain name removed from his account after payment was already submitted. There was apparently an error that occurred somewhere along the line, and he was unable to keep the domain name(s). I’ve also read about this happening to others. It seems that when a registry or registrar makes an error, the error is corrected by way of refunding the registrant and pulling the domain name back.

According to an email that was sent to domain registrars, this is not the case with Uniregistry. As a result of a “configuration error at the registry,” domain names that were registered by registrants when they should not have been able to be registered will be retained by the current owners. Instead of refunding the buyers as they would be permitted in the terms and conditions, the company is letting its registrant keep these domain names that would have been reserved and sold for a premium price.

Some of the domain names that would have been retained by Uniregistry include the following:

  • Very.Sexy
  • XXX.Sexy
  • Car.Audio
  • Games.Sexy
  • Web.Link

Below, I pasted the content of the email that was sent by Uniregistry. I think this was the right thing to do given the circumstances, and it will go a long way in building trust with registrants.

Email sent by Uniregistry:

Yesterday we discovered and corrected a configuration error at the registry that allowed a number of domain names previously on the ICANN SLD Block List from the APD Report (referred to below as the Name Collision list), that we had not intended to release for registration at this time to be registered. In the course of transitioning names from the Name Collision List to our registry premium reserved list, some registry premium names were exposed for public registration and subsequently registered by enterprising customers. These names are listed below. While ICANN policy allowed the registration of the names, our internal registry policy was to hold these names for later release.

At Uniregistry, we strive to provide you with the registry tools you need to create an excellent user experience for your customers. As a result, we consider these names now in the hands of the lucky users who registered them and we will not take any action to recover them.

We have corrected the configuration error and you should not notice any further issues. We will keep you informed as to if and when additional names from the Name Collision lists become available at Uniregistry for general release.

Please congratulate your registrant(s) for becoming the proud owner of a valuable domain name.

Kind regards,
Uniregistry

created date | domain name
2015-01-09 aqua.link
2015-01-12 very.sexy
2015-01-12 foto.sexy
2015-01-12 tres.sexy
2015-01-12 nick.sexy
2015-01-12 sex.sexy
2015-01-12 love.sexy
2015-01-12 wild.sexy
2015-01-12 xxx.sexy
2015-01-13 the.sexy
2015-01-13 mega.sexy
2015-01-13 salon.sexy
2015-01-13 one.sexy
2015-01-13 wow.sexy
2015-01-13 games.sexy
2015-01-13 big.sexy
2015-01-14 car.audio
2015-01-14 porno.sexy
2015-01-14 sky.sexy
2015-01-14 super.sexy
2015-01-14 blog.sexy
2015-01-14 cool.sexy
2015-01-14 web.link
2015-01-15 america.sexy
2015-01-15 indians.sexy
2015-01-15 vip.sexy
2015-01-15 bet.sexy
2015-01-15 power.link
2015-01-15 photo.sexy
2015-01-15 latina.sexy
2015-01-15 real.sexy
2015-01-15 pic.sexy

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
  1. This has to be one of the better moves I’ve seen made by a registry in order to be known as a better registrar throughout the domain investing community. There are a lot of naysayers for any registrar and this was a positive action that was taken that may allow others to see the good in Uniregistry now.

  2. Beginning to wonder if David Walker works for UniRegistry. He’s impressed because they let people keep names they registered? So at least they’re better than Verisign as a registry. That’s a high bar.

    I do suppose these aren’t junk names though. These are ultra premium names like sky.sexy, where I guess people now have a place they can finally admit to getting aroused by clouds.

    • Unfortunately, it seems that the standard has been to remove names and refund registrants when an error is made.

      Uniregistry bucked this trend, and I think it should be acknowledged. Perhaps others will follow suit if the same issue arises in the future.

      The irony is that I had received an email from someone else about a similar issue with a different outcome.

    • It depends on the source of the error. In this instance the registrar pricing was correct and the mistake was on the registry. Most often the other cases have been registrars mishandling the premium data feed. There’s a big difference between a registry eating a potential profit (I doubt that many of the .sexy would be worth much more than registration fee anyway) and a registrar having to eat the cost of an error which is direct out of pocket expense and loss. The major loss – if any – for Uniregistry is the advertising that can be generated from defined premium names if they get in the hands of end-users instead of “enterprising customers”.

      If they removed the idea of premium and held back names in general then we might have an interesting story.

    • There was inside humor by Uniregistry to pass word on to you that I will buy you a cup of coffee the day they pay me for my efforts.

      The fact of the matter here is that you’re mixing the two up: registrar and registry.

      Uniregistry is the registry of .sexy and .link. Therefore, whichever registrar they were registered at is irrelevant. They had the final decision to seize them or let the original registrants keep them.

    • Not confused at all. You didn’t follow what I was saying.

      In prior instances I’m aware of the price mistake was made by a registrar and the registrar reversed out the transaction. In this case there was no error on the registrar so it would the registry pulling the names back.

      The difference is quite dramatic. If a registrar misprices (selling for $20 instead of $10,000) the registry is still expecting the $10,000. The registrar invokes a clause and takes back the name because they can’t absorb a financial hit of that extent. The registry is not going to relinquish a name based on a registrar error.

      In this instance the registrar charged the correct amount based on information from the registry. The registry messed up. The cost to the registry is in lost earnings potential only – they aren’t out hard cash. The registrar isn’t going to pull the name back because they didn’t do anything wrong.

      A registry pulling names for mispricing undermines their entire operation. I don’t think they had a choice so I’m not sure why they are getting credit. Is there another instance where a registry took names back purely for pricing errors on their part?

      Does Uniregistry pay you through any affiliate program?
      If so, I’ll like a large decaf non-fat latte with extra shot.

    • I re-read your statement and it’s a lot clearer now. It seemed like you had mixed the registry (Uniregistry) with the registrar (Uniregistry). Having broken it down, I now see where I went wrong as they essentially played the part in both. It wasn’t as if Uniregistry (registrar) sold a premium Rightside (registry) name and allowed the registrant to keep it. Rather, they sold their own names and took the loss. I apologize.

      I am a part of their affiliate program, but hadn’t ever shoved it down anyone’s throat to join through my link, rather followed Frank’s advice and registered 2 domains with it myself. I have accumulated a total of $9.54 over the past four or five months and their maximum cash-out is $100. If you would give me about another 2 to 5 years, we can get that coffee, maybe.

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