Finally, EstDomains to be Terminated by ICANN

David Heath
Saturday, 15 November 2008 12:07

Business IT - Networking

After an on-again, off-again saga, EstDomains has been advised of irrevocable termination of their status of ICANN-accredited registrar.

Widely reputed as the registrar of choice for many of the “less reputable” domains around the world, EstDomains (yes, they’re based in Estonia – hence the name) was originally advised by ICANN of termination of their registration on October 28th, on the basis of the conviction of the President (Mr Vladimir Tsastsin) of “credit card fraud, money laundering and document forgery.”  Nice lad!

A day later, EstDomains responded that Mr Tsastsin had been replaced as President by Mr Konstantin Poltev some months earlier, and anyway, Mr Tsastsin had appealed the conviction, which under Estonian law set the conviction to one side.  Personally, I think that looks a lot like an each-way bet!  Copies of the resolutions appointing Mr Poltev to the board on June 24th and to the position of President the next day look (to my entirely inexpert eye) just a tiny bit too ‘manufactured’ for my liking.  They’re to be found at pages 2 and 3 of the pdf referenced at the beginning of this paragraph.

On November 7th, ICANN wrote both Mr Tsastsin and his apparent replacement (Mr Poltev) advising that the appeal had been rejected and that the termination would occur, effective November 24th.  ICANN also asked for EstDomains to designate a “bulk transfer recipient” by November 14th.  Checking the ICANN website does not show any indication that this has been done thus far.

Most observers are sceptical that EstDomains will find such a bulk transfer recipient, given the reputation of many sites registered by EstDomains.  For instance McAfee researcher Chris Barton (quoted here) said “I don't think anyone in their right mind is going to want to take on these domain names.  A registrar would have to be either very reckless or very brazen to consider it.”

So, what happens next?