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Bulk Transfer of Esoftwiz Domains to Name.com

21 October 2008

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As a result of the de-accreditation of registrar Esoftwiz Inc., ICANN initiated a process to identify a gaining registrar to receive Esoftwiz's gTLD names. In accordance with ICANN's Interim Terminated Registrar Transition Procedure (see http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-06jun08-en.htm), on 12 September 2008, ICANN initiated a Request for Statements of Interest (RFI) from registrars interested in receiving the names.

ICANN received 11 statements of interest from registrars in response to the RFI. As a result of the procedure, ICANN selected Name.com LLC. to receive the bulk transfer from Esoftwiz.

The gTLD registries that have registered Esoftwiz names have taken steps to effect the bulk transfers. Former registrant-customers of Esoftwiz should soon receive notices of the transfer from Name.com. Customer questions about the transfer should be directed to Name.com. Contact information is available at: http://www.internic.net/registrars/registrar-625.html.

FAQs

Q. Why was this transfer authorized by ICANN?

A. Esoftwiz's Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) expired and Esoftwiz was not eligible for renewal due to RAA compliance issues. As a result, Esoftwiz was no longer permitted to register or manage gTLD registrations. In order to protect the customers of Esoftwiz, ICANN initiated this process to identify a new ICANN-accredited registrar to manage the registrations.

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

A. Former customers of Esoftwiz should receive a notice of the transfer and instructions for continued management of their names from Name.com. Affected customers who do not receive notices from Name.com should contact Name.com directly, using the information provided at http://www.internic.net/registrars/registrar-625.html.

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 Name.com if your registration will expire soon in order to maintain your registration.

Q. Why do former Esoftwiz customers need to contact Name.com?

A. Esoftwiz did not forward billing information to Name.com. Accordingly, all registrants must provide updated billing information or transfer their names to other registrars.

Q. What if former Esoftwiz 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 Name.com may deny transfers for the first 60 days following the bulk transfer, at Name.com's discretion. This 60-day period is permissible under the Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy, and is intended to help protect registrants. Names that will expire during the first 60 days following the transfer to Name.com should be renewed by the registrant by contacting Name.com using the information provided at http://www.internic.net/registrars/registrar-625.html.

Q. How will Esoftwiz customers know if a message purportedly from Name.com is legitimate?

A. The message from Name.com should direct you to their website hosted at http://www.name.com or refer you to other contact information listed at http://www.internic.net/registrars/registrar-625.html. 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).