ICANN has announced that it initiated the Registry Transition Process of the new gTLD .WED. The domain was delegated in January 2014, and registration became available for everyone in May. However, most observers predicted at the very beginning that the domain would fail, rightfully criticizing the business model chosen by Atgron. The registry wanted to sell domains to marrying couples that would launch websites dedicated to this important event of their lives. The registration fee was $50 at first, but the renewal fee after the first two years would be $30,000. This is how the registry wanted to discourage renewals, in order to free up space for other couples with the same names.
As expected, the strategy failed. At the end of 2017, Atgron was unable to support the domain zone anymore, and its functions were temporarily transferred to Nominet. The registry officially lost its contract with ICANN at the end of last year. This is the first time ICANN had to roll out its Registry Transition Process. Of course, domain zones have failed before, but they always were dot-brand domains that were simply quietly removed from the DNS root.
In fact, the Registry Transition Process is a form of auction. Registries that want to manage .WED must present applications confirming their technical and financial capabilities to maintain the domain zone. The registry that offers the highest bid will win. However, unlike ICANN’s new gTLD auctions, in this case the money will not go to its budget. After it covers the costs of running the RFP, any remaining cash will go to Atgron. Domain Incite notes sarcastically that perhaps the registry could make more money by failing than it ever did selling domain names. That is a possibility, considering there are only 39 domains registered in the .WED domain zone.
