Famous Four Media (Domain Venture Partners), which operates new gTLDs, has kicked the electronic bucket. Information about its problems creeped into the media back in June, when IANA’s administrative contact for all of the company’s 16 TLDs was changed. The rumor has become fact now: domain registrars have received notification from Global Registry Services Ltd that it has assumed control of FFM’s 16 gTLDs.
These are the top-level domains .LOAN, .WIN, .MEN, .BID, .STREAM, .REVIEW, .TRADE, .DATE, .PARTY, .DOWNLOAD, .SCIENCE, .RACING, .ACCOUNTANT, .FAITH, .WEBCAM and .CRICKET. This group’s volume ran at about 4.5 million names by July, which is more than any other new gTLD registry had.
The explanation is that Famous Four Media achieved this impressive scale largely by selling domains super cheap, so that huge numbers of domains were acquired by spammers, malware operators and cyber criminals. They registered dozens and even hundreds of domain names while they were dirt cheap, used them for criminal purposes, and almost never renewed them. This has seriously damaged the FFM’s financial standing and reputation, as well as the general attitude to the new gTLD program.
GRS Domains announced its resolve to introduce several changes with regard to the overall strategy of the portfolio of gTLDs, the main one being a change to a “quality over quantity” ethos.
It is unclear if these plans will be realized, though. Domain Incite, a news blog about the domain name business, policy, politics and technology, writes that GRS is controlled by Domain Venture Partners PCC Limited, which controlled Famous Four Media. This may mean that changes will only be skin-deep.
