E-Commerce Times describes one of the fiascoes well:

Those problems include allegations of fraud and that RegisterFly aggressively cajoled customers to purchase upgraded services. Some customers complained to ICANN that they missed deadlines for renewal of domains, only to see those domains transferred to a company owned by RegisterFly CEO Kevin Medina, who then offered to sell the domains back at a higher price.

I’ve heard complaints about RegisterFly for months. However, since the April 26 ruling, the status of domains registered via RegisterFly was really in jeopardy. Once the domains have been transferred to GoDaddy, domain owners will once again be able to manage, transfer and renew the domains. Of course, GoDaddy will benefit from the transfers, but ICANN feels that the transfer will benefit the domain owners as well. I’m sure they’ll be glad to be free from the problem-ridden registrar.

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“GoDaddy And Friends Rescue RegisterFly Database”

Yet, for the uninitiated, that phrasing makes the act sound like a hostile acquisition, and it was really more of a rescue mission.  As the Channel Register’s Burke Hansen notes, “RegisterFly controlled two million domains, but a bitter personal breakup between the two founders led eventually to bizarre personal attacks, acrimonious litigation, and ultimately to the loss of ICANN accreditation.”

So when GoDaddy stepped in, “[I]t’s what many RegisterFly customers asked us to do,” says Bob Parsons, the company’s CEO and founder.  In an official statement, he also adds, “We worked with ICANN to effect a migration of the RegisterFly domains to GoDaddy.com and help those customers left in limbo.”

But ICANN and GoDaddy aren’t the only ones behind this benevolent act.  “Afilias and VeriSign, the two registries with the most RegisterFly names, have forgone considerable fees for transfers,” according to a press release.  “The gTLD registries GNR, NeuStar and PIR also acted to prevent deletion of names.  As well, Tucows took uncompensated effort to provide data and pursue a solution that would protect registrants.”

So all appears to be well in regards to the RegisterFly fiasco; those affected domain names should be safely within GoDaddy’s grasp by the end of next week.  GoDaddy does, of course, stand to profit as those domains get renewed, but it was still nice (and interesting) to see everyone pull together on this one.

Beginning today, ICANN is inviting statements of interest from accredited registrars to act as a transfer provider, ensuring registrants have full access to their domains. That registrar will act as a temporary domain holder and aid in the transfer of domain names to any ICANN-accredited registrar of the registrant’s choice.

“Registrants are our first concern. ICANN is following a very determined approach to returning access to domain name registrants impacted by the collapse of RegisterFly,” said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN President and CEO.

In order to qualify as a transfer provider, registrars must be ICANN-accredited for at least two years, in compliance with the Registrar Accreditation Agreement, and able to demonstrate that it possesses the technical and financial qualification necessary to operate a registrar with the number of registrations that the applicant will need to manage if it is selected as the services provider.

“ICANN knows that many registrants are anxious for a transfer to occur. We are committed to making sure this process is put in place as quickly as possible,” Twomey said.

“While we understand that this process may be frustrating for some RegisterFly customers, it is the first time that ICANN has had to intercede in such a way and these steps are being taken to ensure that the system introduced works as effectively as possible.”

US Federal Court Judge Manuel J. Real is also requiring RegisterFly to post the following notice on its website immediately:

NOTICE TO CONSUMERS: THE INTERNET CORPORATION FOR ASSIGNED NAMES AND NUMBERS, THE NOT-FOR-PROFIT ENTITY THAT ADMINISTERS THE INTERNET’S DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM, HAS ISSUED A NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF THIS COMPANY’S ACCREDITATION TO SERVE AS AN INTERNET DOMAIN REGISTRAR. PLEASE SEE www.icann.org FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

As of 11:30 a.m. EST, the notice is not yet posted on the site.