Holding back and reserving what one would consider “premium” names is nothing new in domaining. Verisign has taken back drops on premium .tv domains many a time. Certain new gtld registries have done the same.
There is usually not a desire to hold back average or what some might even consider below average names.
I was reading a post on Namepros and a member (Crysis) uncovered a bunch of .co names being reserved that are mostly average.
From the post:
For the past few days, I have been observing that .Co registry has been reserving many of the pending delete domain names for themselves.
For ex: The domain names listed below were supposed to drop yesterday and become available for hand registration. Now, if you check the whois, it’s showing as RESERVED.
Some Examples
- HaveFun.co
- SpaceLabs.co
- Eits.co
- Wast.co
- Adrienne.co
I can understand if premium .co domain names like Idea.co, Talent.co are getting reserved by the registry. However, in these cases, even mediocre domain names are getting reserved for the past few days.
Some Examples (These are just a few examples. There are many more domain names which are getting reserved)
- Locatelli.co
- SoulFire.co
- Bergamo.co
- Wova.co
- Wiku.co
- Furmanite.co
- Nxstage.co
- OnlineIncome.co
- PureBliss.co
- TraderOnline.co
Have any of you observed the same thing?
Is this ethical?
Namepros Member Kate wrote:
At the very least, it’s not healthy.
Registries are in a privileged position. In the real world (that the domain industry is able to escape), there are laws and regulations to avoid or limit abuse of a dominant position, and the conflicts of interest arising from such a position.
Maybe something is going on, or there is a technical glitch, I don’t understand reserving names like PureBliss.co or Nxstage.co.
