After initially staying the execution of embattled registrar EstDomains, ICANN has decided to shut it down Nov. 24. EstDomains has long been linked to cyber-criminals by security researchers.ICANN has placed the EstDomains registrar back on death row.
According to ICANN, the embattled registrar will have its accreditation terminated effective Nov. 24. The decision comes roughly
two weeks after ICANN first contacted EstDomains Oct. 28 and said it
was taking the registrar offline due to the conviction of the
registrars then-president Vladimir Tsastsin on fraud and money
laundering charges.
According to the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA), ICANN may
terminate the RAA before its expiration when any of a registrar's
officers or directors is convicted of a crime related to financial
activities, provided the person is not removed in such
circumstances.
In response to ICANN, EstDomains sent a letter Oct. 29 stating that
Tsastsin was no longer president and his conviction was being appealed.
On the strength of that letter, ICANN granted the registrar a brief
stay of execution until EstDomains' counterclaims could be
investigated. On Nov. 7, ICANN responded to EstDomains that it was
going ahead with the termination.
Read about ICANN's take on domain tasting here.
When news of ICANNs move against EstDomains first circulated in
October, it was greeted warmly by many in the IT security community,
who have long accused EstDomains of providing services to
cyber-criminal organizations involved in spam campaigns and other
activity. EstDomains, however, has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing on
its part.
According to ICANN, EstDomains manages roughly 281,000 domain names.
ICANN officials said the organization has published a Request for
Information to see if any registrars are interested in receiving a
bulk transfer of the domain names managed by EstDomains.