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The termination of ICANN-accredited registrar EstDomains is to go ahead, effective 24 November 2008.

On 28 October 2008, ICANN sent a notice of termination to EstDomains, Inc. (EstDomains) based on an Estonian Court record reflecting the conviction of EstDomains' then president, Vladimir Tsastsin, of credit card fraud, money laundering and document forgery.

Pursuant to Section 5.3 of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA), ICANN may terminate the RAA before its expiration when, "Any officer or director of [a] Registrar is convicted of a felony or of a misdemeanor related to financial activities, or is adjudged by a court to have committed fraud or breach of fiduciary duty, or is the subject of judicial determination that ICANN deems as the substantive equivalent of any of these; provided such officer or director is not removed in such circumstances."

ICANN received a response from EstDomains on 29 October in which it indicated that the Estonian Court record on which ICANN relied was not final and had been appealed. ICANN pended the termination of EstDomains' RAA to analyze the claims made by EstDomains and to obtain independent information regarding the status of the alleged appeal.

On 7 November 2008, EstDomains was informed that, based on ICANN's findings, ICANN was proceeding with the termination of EstDomains' RAA, effective 24 November 2008.

ICANN's records indicate that EstDomains manages approximately 281,000 domain names. To protect the interests of registrants, on 28 October 2008, ICANN published a Request for Informations seeking expressions of interest from registrars to receive a bulk transfer of the domain names managed by de-accredited registrar EstDomains.

ICANN is analyzing the responses to that request and will take measures to effectuate a smooth transition of the domain names managed by EstDomains to a qualified ICANN- accredited registrar.

For information regarding ICANN's De-Accredited Registrar Transition Procedure, please go to: http://www.icann.org/processes/registrars/de-accredited-registrar-transition-procedure-01oct08.pdf [PDF,121K].

Registrants interested in immediately transferring their domain names are encouraged to read ICANN's Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy http://www.icann.org/en/transfers/policy-12jul04.htm for guidance regarding the transfer process.

Related links:

Original notice of termination:
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/burnette-to-tsastsin-28oct08-en.pdf [PDF,77K]

EstDomains response to notice of termination:
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/poltev-to-burnette-29oct08-en.pdf [PDF, 857K]

Letter to EstDomains concerning decision to proceed with termination:
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/burnette-to-poltev-07nov08-en.pdf [PDF, 57K]