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Bulk Transfer of Hosting365 Inc. Domains to Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd.

15 January 2010

ICANN has authorized a bulk transfer of Hosting365 Inc.’s gTLD domain names to Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd., due to a compliance action taken by ICANN that resulted in the de-accreditation of registrar Hosting365 Inc.

The gTLD registries that have registered Hosting365’s domain names have taken steps to effect the bulk transfers. Former registrant-customers of Hosting365 should soon receive notices of the transfer from Blacknight Internet Solutions. Customer questions about the transfer should be directed to Blacknight Internet Solutions. Contact and additional information about this bulk transfer of Hosting365’s domain names are provided below.

FAQs

Q. Why was this transfer authorized by ICANN?

A. Hosting365’s Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) was terminated by ICANN because of Hosting365’s failure to comply with the requirements of the RAA. (The notice of termination is posted at http://www.icann.org/correspondence/burnette-to-mccarron-25nov09-en.pdf [PDF, 56.2M]). As a result, Hosting365 is no longer permitted to register or manage gTLD registrations.

Q. How was the gaining registrar selected?

A. In accordance with ICANN’s De-Accredited Registrar Transition Procedure (see http://www.icann.org/en/processes/registrars/de-accredited-registrar-transition-procedure-01oct08.pdf [PDF, 118.4M]), on 30 November 2009, ICANN initiated a Request for Expressions of Interest to identify a new ICANN-accredited registrar to manage the registrations formerly managed by Hosting365. ICANN received 9 expressions of interest from registrars in response to the RFI. Through the procedure, ICANN selected Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd. to receive the bulk transfer from Hosting365.

Q. Will Hosting365 attempt to contact the affected registrants? What should current/former Hosting365 customers do?

A. Former customers of Hosting365 should receive a notice of the transfer and instructions for continued management of their names from Blacknight Internet Solutions. Affected customers who do not receive notices from Blacknight Internet Solutions should check the landing page prepared by Blacknight for this bulk transfer: http://www.blacknight.com/icann-notice.html or, contact Blacknight Internet Solutions directly, at:

Telephone:
1850 929 929 (Ireland)
0844 484 9361 (UK)
213.233.1612 (US)
+353 (0) 59 9183072 (international)
Email: support@blacknight.com
Web: http://www.blacknight.com




Q. Do registrants have to pay a fee for the bulk transfer?

A. No, there is no cost to registrants for the bulk transfer. Unlike a normal inter-registrar transfer, the registration terms will not be extended by a year. Accordingly, it is important to contact Blacknight Internet Solutions if your registration will expire soon in order to maintain your registration.

Q. Why do former Hosting365 customers need to contact Blacknight Internet Solutions?

A. Hosting365 did not forward billing information to Blacknight Internet Solutions. Accordingly, all registrants must provide updated billing information or transfer their names to other registrars.

Q. What if former Hosting365 customers want to use a different registrar?

A. Registrants will continue to be able to transfer their registrations to other registrars under the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (see http://www.icann.org/en/transfers/). Note that Blacknight Internet Solutions may deny transfers for the first 60 days following the bulk transfer, at Blacknight’s discretion. This 60-day period is permissible under the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy, and is intended to help protect registrants. The registrant should renew names that will expire during the first 60 days following the transfer to Blacknight Internet Solutions by contacting Blacknight at:

Telephone:
1850 929 929 (Ireland)
0844 484 9361 (UK)
213.233.1612 (US)
+353 (0) 59 9183072 (international)
Email: support@blacknight.com
Web: http://www.blacknight.com




Q. How will Hosting365 customers know if a message purportedly from Blacknight Internet Solutions is legitimate?

A. The message from Blacknight Internet Solutions should direct you to their website hosted at http://www.blacknight.com or refer you to other contact information provided above. If you believe a message purportedly from Blacknight Internet Solutions is not legitimate, you should navigate to their web page directly, at http://www.blacknight.com. For general advice about avoiding phishing email messages, you may also wish to refer to the materials prepared by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (see http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html).