Finally, EstDomains to be Terminated by ICANN

David Heath
Saturday, 15 November 2008 12:07

Business IT - Networking

According to ICANN, there are around 280,000 domains registered with EstDomains, although others put the number closer to 245,000 and dropping quickly.  Rats deserting a sinking ship?

Since the first announcement by ICANN, somewhere around 7000 domains were lost to EstDomains; however, another 245,000 still need to find a new home, with only 10 days to do it.

Interestingly, many of the more ‘irritating’ websites registered with EstDomains were hosted by an ISP called McColo – which was chopped off at the knees a couple of days ago, and spam levels dropped by as much as 75% (for a couple of days, anyway!) before the spam merchants found new ways to get their material onto the web.

…and one final insult to EstDomains.

While researching this article, I can across a press release titled “EstDomains, Inc Takes Next Step in Combating Spam and Malware” dated October 23rd – just 5 days prior to the ICANN action.

Now, I don’t know if this was issued with tongue firmly wedged in cheek, or whether EstDomains was actually attempting to turn the ship around, a plan which was completely thwarted by the termination.  Perhaps the closing paragraph from the release will help you decide. 

“The terms and conditions of EstDomains, Inc (http://www.estdomains.com) Acceptable Usage policy strongly prohibit the distribution or storing data that may damage user's computer equipment also known as "malware" and may contain widely known viruses, trifles that interrupt work process with throwing links to the websites displaying obscene materials or corrupted codes that are designed with an intention to steal personal data and credit card information. On its own initiation EstDomains, Inc management has launched several projects that are meant to fight spam and malware distribution. Vast resources have been invested into elaboration of advanced account monitoring systems, the application of well-built filters to detect spam or malware that may potentially come from the domain names registered at EstDomains, Inc.”

Yerrite!