Tucows’ Expiring Domain Name Auction Service

Tucows is starting a service to auction off expired domain names, but

with an escape hatch to ensure that the former holders of the expired

domains don’t get scr0d.

Yet, Tucows plans to protect the previous registrant’s existing rights

because even if a URL enters the auction, the old registrant still has

a window of opportunity to retain the name under the system. Noss said

Tucows plans to “hold the name in escrow for another 30 days” on top of

a period of “anywhere from one to 45 days” that a former registrant has

to reclaim their domain name after expiry, depending on which registrar

they’re dealing with.

…Tucows is the kind

of company that would enter the lapsed-domain business in a way that

shows particular respect for the former owners of domain names. As any

number of sordid stories will attest — many of them associated with Verisign — lapsed domains offer a perfect situation for sleazy opportunism.

I tend to be skeptical and suspicious about large corporations; in

fact, some readers will scornfully characterize my attitude with even

less flattering words (less flattering both to me and to the

corporations I mistrust). All the more reason, then, to repeat that I

have for years been deeply impressed with the probity and business

style of the folks at Tucows.