ICANN announced that the dot .Wed registry, Atgron, Inc., sustained a Registration Data Directory Services failure.
In other words, the .Wed domain database was kicked in the gonads, and according to ICANN’s procedures, an Emergency Back-End Registry Operator (EBERO) was allocated – in this case, Nominet.
Such emergencies are rare, but in the case of dot .Wed, it seems to only affect three dozen domain names. According to ntldstats, there are only 36 .Wed domains registered.
The most apparent reason: Dot .Wed domain registrations observe a strange set of rules, as pricing costs $150 dollars for the first two years and goes up to $30,000 dollars after that, to allow for the recycling of domain names:
According to DomainIncite’s coverage:
.WED domain names are sold to couples for one or two years to celebrate their wedding. The domain names then become available to another couple… Mary and John can have MaryandJohn.WED and then YES the next Mary and John can have MaryandJohn.WED a year or two later and so on and so on.
Here is the full announcement by ICANN:
Los Angeles – 7 December 2017 – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN“) today designated an emergency interim registry operator for the generic top-level domain (gTLD) .WED.
An Emergency Back-End Registry Operator (EBERO) may be temporarily activated if a gTLD registry operator reaches an emergency threshold of downtime for any of the five critical registry functions. These functions are: domain name system (DNS) resolution for registered domain names, operation of the shared registration system, operation of Registration Data Directory Services (e.g., WHOIS), registry data escrow deposits and maintenance of a properly signed zone in accordance with DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) requirements.
Registry operator, Atgron, Inc., which operates gTLD .WED, experienced a Registration Data Directory Services failure, and ICANN designated EBERO provider Nominet as emergency interim registry operator. Nominet has now stepped in and is restoring service for the TLD.
The EBERO program is designed to be activated should a registry operator require assistance to sustain critical registry functions for a period of time. The primary concern of the EBERO program is to protect registrants by ensuring that the five critical registry functions are available. ICANN‘s goal is to have the emergency event resolved as soon as possible.
Kudos to George Kirikos for the news.
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