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Short Version:

How do I transfer a .tv domain from one registrar (enom.tv) to another (godaddy.com) when the current registrar considers this a "Premium" domain and won't generate a transfer authorization (EPP) code? (The Premium status was determined after the domain had already been in use.)

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Long Rant Version:

I came in possession of a .tv domain by way of company acquisition, and we use it for streaming video. It was purchased at or around the going rate ($10-20 US), but last week our site suddenly stopped working. The Execs quickly paid the extortionate $750 renewal fee to enom.tv, and once the DNS dust settled, we were back in business. The contact email address is a distibution list, and nary a notice had been received. New priority: transfer registrar.

I've verified that GoDaddy can in fact register .tv domains, which is where most of our domains are registered. So I opened up the domain for transfer within enom's tools, and attempted to run the transfer from within the GoDaddy console. A call to GoDaddy's tech support informed me of a need to get some Authorization Key, so I clicked the appropriate button within the elom tools. And waited. And waited...

Today I called the customer support number and after about 15 minutes was told basically that they are the only authorized registrar for certain .tv domains deterimed to be "premium names", and for them, the higher rate applies.

To summarize: "Eat it and Pay Up."

I have found that nbc.tv is registered through GoDaddy. I find it hard to believe that they are not a "Premium Name"...

The enom rep also claimed that expiration notices had been sent, but nobody on the contact distribution list received anything. (I had, of course, tested that it works previously.) He responded and said that they must have been put on a spammer list, but we're receiving their trouble ticket notices. (Lies, and Lies.)

This screams of shady. Does anybody have any ideas of how to forcibly transfer our domain against our current registrar's wishes? Or failing that, is there any recourse?

gWaldo
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    Thats really shady, I don't know what to say other than bail ASAP, sorry. – Jacob Feb 17 '11 at 00:33
  • If you're interested, I'm an enom reseller and can probably help you get some more control of your domain. IE: Set you up as a sub reseller or something. – ErnieTheGeek Feb 17 '11 at 01:18
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    I would take them up on the following statement: `Annual renewal fees for .TV premium names will be the same as the initial "Buy Now" registration price.` – Mark Henderson Feb 17 '11 at 02:17

3 Answers3

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Unfortunately it does look like you are stuck. Enom are the only ones authorised to handle .tv "Premium" domains. See the FAQ here. It sucks, but there's no around it.

Niall Donegan
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  • I did see that, however 1) that seems absolutely self-serving, and 2) http://www.icann.org/en/transfers/dnholder-faq-03nov04.htm (under "My registrar is refusing to transfer my name. What do I do?" section) – gWaldo Feb 17 '11 at 21:02
  • It's a legal agreement between Enom and Verisign. "Premium" domains as a concept were bought in by the various TLD operators and Registrars, through ICANN, so that they could implement arbitrary restrictions like the one you're experiencing. – Niall Donegan Feb 18 '11 at 10:36
  • I've stopped dealing with this and sent it up to the lawyers to deal with; maybe they'll be able to make some headway. I'm marking this as the answer as I can't get any satisfaction. – gWaldo Feb 28 '11 at 14:33
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I can't find any sign of an elom registrar or an elom.tv domain. There is an enom registrar, so it's likely that you mistyped it (over and over), but I can't help but wonder if you've fallen victim to some elaborate fake registrar ruse.

I would start by telling GoDaddy that you have this domain, you'd really love to transfer it to them, but the other company won't issue an auth code even though you're paid in full and marked the domain as transferrable. I'm sure they've got ideas on how to get you to pay them instead of their competitor.

Failing that, Verisign operates the .tv registry, and is responsible for certifying the registrars who issue domains on there. I'm not sure if they have any kind of complaint form that end users can use (or if you file a complaint about a registrar, if anything will happen).

DerfK
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does control.TV if you're being charged more money by a registrar just to host it there it may not be considered wrong that registrar to charge you more some do unfortunately.

I would contact VeriSign as well they're very accessible and the easiest thing for you to honestly do would be to realize different registrars charge vastly different prices for different TLD's I personally host your own DNS with a company that is dedicated to hosting DNS I prefer Dyn however ultra and VeriSign are decent. DNS made easy might be the best value on the market and a very good company.

You can also contact ICANN they enforce domain name rules. My two cents and please understand I don't buy your situation so I hope this helps if my guesses right if you're using more than one domain to host a website and you're targeting only one country in my opinion you are adding enormous expense and complication to your business along with devaluing your regular domain. You can normally accomplish the identical thing using a c name like TV.example.com

Tom
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    Your answer was hard to follow and doesn't really answer the question. – Drew Khoury Sep 03 '13 at 02:41
  • And it is partly wrong. "You can also contact ICANN they enforce domain name rules." .TV is a ccTLD (even if not sold as such), so completely outside of any ICANN rule. – Patrick Mevzek Feb 27 '20 at 16:54