Domain reclassified as premium. I need advice.

[ryan87]

Hi. I own a domain that was non-premium when I registered it. It was non-premium when I renewed it last year. When I went to renew it today, I noticed it's reclassified as premium. I have ~4 years of daily logs for the classification (from Namecheap's APIs). I'm not confused. I understand how it works and, assuming it's not a mistake at Namecheap, my domain was reclassified without the registration lapsing and without my consent.

That violates section 2.10c of ICANN's baseline registry agreement [1] and, based on common knowledge, it shouldn't happen [2]. Does anyone here know of any tools I can use to check domain classifications (or have access to an API that's not Namecheap)? I'd like to know if the domain was reclassified by the registry (Uniregistry). I'll reach out to Namecheap, but I'd like to have the classification verified by a 3rd party first.

I previously renewed the domain on Feb 5, 2023 when it was classified as non-premium, so I doubt I accidentally consented to a change in classification. On April 12, 2023 it was considered non-premium:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ApiResponse Status="OK" xmlns="[link removed]">
  <Errors />
  <Warnings />
  <RequestedCommand>namecheap.domains.check</RequestedCommand>
  <CommandResponse Type="namecheap.domains.check">
    <DomainCheckResult Domain="****.help" Available="false" ErrorNo="0" Description="" IsPremiumName="false" PremiumRegistrationPrice="0" PremiumRenewalPrice="0" PremiumRestorePrice="0" PremiumTransferPrice="0" IcannFee="0" EapFee="0.0" />
  </CommandResponse>
  <Server>PHX01APIEXT01</Server>
  <GMTTimeDifference>--4:00</GMTTimeDifference>
  <ExecutionTime>0.39</ExecutionTime>
</ApiResponse>

On April 13, 2023 it was reclassified as premium:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ApiResponse Status="OK" xmlns="[link removed]">
  <Errors />
  <Warnings />
  <RequestedCommand>namecheap.domains.check</RequestedCommand>
  <CommandResponse Type="namecheap.domains.check">
    <DomainCheckResult Domain="****.help" Available="false" ErrorNo="0" Description="" IsPremiumName="true" PremiumRegistrationPrice="1180.0000" PremiumRenewalPrice="1180.0000" PremiumRestorePrice="35.4000" PremiumTransferPrice="1180.0000" IcannFee="0" EapFee="0.0" />
  </CommandResponse>
  <Server>PHX01APIEXT03</Server>
  <GMTTimeDifference>--4:00</GMTTimeDifference>
  <ExecutionTime>0.619</ExecutionTime>
</ApiResponse>

As of today, it's still classified as premium:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ApiResponse Status="OK" xmlns="[link removed]">
  <Errors />
  <Warnings />
  <RequestedCommand>namecheap.domains.check</RequestedCommand>
  <CommandResponse Type="namecheap.domains.check">
    <DomainCheckResult Domain="****.help" Available="false" ErrorNo="0" Description="" IsPremiumName="true" PremiumRegistrationPrice="325.0000" PremiumRenewalPrice="28.6000" PremiumRestorePrice="39.0000" PremiumTransferPrice="28.6000" IcannFee="0" EapFee="0.0" />
  </CommandResponse>
  <Server>PHX01APIEXT01</Server>
  <GMTTimeDifference>--5:00</GMTTimeDifference>
  <ExecutionTime>0.616</ExecutionTime>
</ApiResponse>

1. itp.cdn.icann.org/en/files/registry-agreements/base-registry-agreement-21-01-2024-en.html#article2.10
2. domainnamewire.com/2022/06/24/can-registries-reclassify-your-domain-as-premium-before-renewal/

 

[bismisoft]

Hope you're making progress @ryan87

 

[ryan87]

@bismisoft Yes, I made some progress in the last couple of weeks. ICANN global support replied in <12h and gave me contact info for the compliance department. I used that to follow up, but didn't get a reply. I wasn't super surprised by that since I was emailing a generic address asking for a case update and that kind of stuff should be going through an issue tracking system.

Since I wasn't having any success following up, I emailed the ICANN Ombuds. I basically said that inaction was excluding me from participating in the complaint process and that I wasn't getting equal access to the process compared to contracted parties that have "working relationships" with ICANN.

The Ombuds was very helpful. She replied to me the same afternoon, said that it wasn't typical to be waiting so long for initial contact, and offered to follow up with the compliance department to see what was going on. Two days later I got an email from the compliance department acknowledging my complaint and indicating it's been added to their database. The Ombuds followed up to let me know the compliance department said it "slipped through the cracks."

I take those kinds of explanations at face value unless I have a concrete reason to believe otherwise. Support can be challenging, especially when dealing with thousands of complex issues per-month and something getting missed is the simplest explaination. I think the process could be improved for registrants, but that's another conversation.

So, as of today, things should be in-progress and I can reply to the email from the compliance department if needed.

 

[bismisoft]

That is fantastic to hear. This is normal in a corporate world although ICANN is a non-profit, like you already mentioned there are ton of issues everyday and it wont make progress unless we push it hard.

For us this is the case, for them it is one of their cases, that makes a huge difference.

You're in the right direction, keep going.

Your persistence is humbling

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

The Ombuds was very helpful. She replied to me the same afternoon, said that it wasn't typical to be waiting so long for initial contact, and offered to follow up with the compliance department to see what was going on. Two days later I got an email from the compliance department acknowledging my complaint and indicating it's been added to their database. The Ombuds followed up to let me know the compliance department said it "slipped through the cracks."

Sounds like a great department for helping registrants navigate the ICANN process.

So, as of today, things should be in-progress and I can reply to the email from the compliance department if needed.

Kudos to you for your persistence! Your thread here on NP, relating to unexpected premium domain name reclassifications, raises a very important concern. Hopefully, the ICANN compliance section can provide clarity soon on this issue.

 

[ryan87]

Sounds like a great department for helping registrants navigate the ICANN process.

It's not a department. It's one person. Based on my understanding, asking them for help is supposed to be a last resort. This is the first time in my life I've every reached out to someone in that role. They're not there to do any kind of day-to-day support and the scope of what they can do for you is somewhat narrow, so I would suggest having a decent understanding of what their role is before asking them for help.

Having access to an ombudsperson is extremely important for normal people to cut through bureaucracy when processes break down or policies aren't being applied equitably, so care should be taken to ensure their time isn't being misused.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

It's not a department. It's one person. Based on my understanding, asking them for help is supposed to be a last resort.

Having access to an ombudsperson is extremely important for normal people to cut through bureaucracy when processes break down or policies aren't being applied equitably, so care should be taken to ensure their time isn't being misused.

Excellent point.

ICANN Compliance hopefully will take your matter seriously.

The concern here is whether the matter was dropped, since you already renewed and the price increase was not huge. Hopefully, they will seriously address the underlying issue--whether the premium domain reclassification was permissible.

 

[leopardini]

Get ready guys. I see the future of domains as a slow squeeze from the guys at the front (registries and registrars) who have figured out ways to keep more of the value inherent in keywords. Examples are premium tiers and longtail pricing models such as the one used for .art developed by Paul Stahura.

This graph is at art.art explaining their pricing model. Notice how domain investors are labeled "squatters". In the Old West cattlemen and sheepherders fought over the value found in water, land and resources. The domain services have finally figured out how to turn the tap off and reserve the value for themselves. What do you foresee will happen? How many registrars will forgo this giant pile of money? I'm gonna guess, eventually, none.

Little guys, tighten your belt. Again.

Feeling disheartened by OP's experience and the general global trend of the big guys treading on the little guys. The one glimmer of hope I see is that sales will be so slow at these premium tier and long tail pricing registrars they will give up the model. Don't give them your money even for low value names.

As speculators we hold a huge amount of dollars at risk. By using these varied pricing models registrars are now holding that risk. Our risk is spread out over millions of investors. Good luck holding all that risk in one company.

 

[leopardini]

I get confused over registry vs registrar. Which is which again?

 

[namegulf]

I get confused over registry vs registrar. Which is which again?

Its not just you, this happens a lot and why we blogged this in detail https://namegulf.com/blog/insights/...gistry-registrar-whois-icann-and-aftermarket/

In short: registry creates, controls & manages the TLD, registrar resells the domains in that TLD

 

[namegulf]

I get confused over registry vs registrar. Which is which again?

Also here is a list of all TLD registrys in the world as of 2024 https://namegulf.com/tld/registry

 

[leopardini]

https://www.dnjournal.com/cover/2015/july. htm (about Paul Stahura)

 

[leopardini]

So it is the registries that are promoting tier pricing and long tail pricing? Or do they only offer it and the registrars accept it or not accept it. I'm assuming registrars set their own prices. Where exactly are these models inserted into the flow

 

[namegulf]

So it is the registries that are promoting tier pricing and long tail pricing? Or do they only offer it and the registrars accept it or not accept it. I'm assuming registrars set their own prices. Where exactly are these models inserted into the flow

Registries provide baseline prices and registrars markup on top of that