I rarely use namecheap.com to register domains anymore. They have a nice clean control panel but everytime I want to register a domain I end up using GoDaddy instead because their price is usually USD 1 cheaper.
So I only login to namecheap to unlock domains and get EPP codes so that I can transfer to GoDaddy. I’m not sure if its incompetence or a strategy but for the third time this year a domain I have with namecheap has ceased to appear in their control panel. That means I cannot unlock it and I cannot get its EPP code. So I can’t leave namecheap!
I’ve contacted their customer support, but because there is only 45 days left that human being will certainly know why I want to modify the domain! Will he/she drag his or her heels?
This is a textbook example of a problem so complicated that it will never make headlines.
Go to www.networksolutions.com and check if a random domain is available (I tried f5ke00gpl.com and it was). Sit back for 5 minutes. Then do a WHOIS using your favourite third party service and you will see that NetSol have registered the domain, and if you want it you’ll have to buy it from them.
This is called domain “front running” and if we might play devils advocate for a moment it is a very slick idea, but alas it calls forth too many memories of another Verisign service “wildcard domains“.
Unfortunately we cannot waste NetSols money because
a) it is believed to be limitless
b) the registration costs them noting, as it uses the ICANN typo “domain tasting” loophole.
A domain so-registered seems to last for four days. But leaving it “expire” in the hopes of using another registrar is risky. Many automated squatters snap up domains that expire.
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