Registerfly takes a hit

March 19, 2007 4:56 PM

Update: Registerfly's accreditation has been terminated by ICANN.
posted by disclaimer to MetaFilter-Related at 4:56 PM (21 comments total)

And the folks that helped do 'em in.
posted by disclaimer at 5:00 PM on March 19, 2007

Heh. :)

For those looking for new registrars, as I posted in the linked thread, both Joker and Namecheap are good. Joker has better infrastructure and kinda wonky English; Namecheap has a much better website and is a little cheaper.
posted by Malor at 5:10 PM on March 19, 2007

That's pretty radical. Has ICANN ever done anything like this before?
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:39 PM on March 19, 2007

The, uh, linked thread is still, uh, ... open.
posted by Rhomboid at 5:42 PM on March 19, 2007

It's good to hear some closure on that. There are also a zillion ask mefi posts about people having trouble with the service.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:55 PM on March 19, 2007

No the ICANN has never done this before. The closure hasn't happened yet though. Alot of registrants still have thier domains in limbo for some reason or another. Luckily none of my domains are getting ready to expire soon so I don't have to worry about Registerfly screwing them up. I'm just going to wait it out for ICANN to take it over and tell me what to do because Registerfly is completely unresponsive.
posted by bigmusic at 7:27 PM on March 19, 2007

About time. Does this help folks whose domains were stolen get them back? Is anyone helping the folks who got screwed with that?
posted by mediareport at 7:29 PM on March 19, 2007

There are also a zillion ask mefi posts about people having trouble with the service.

I guess that helps explain why this is news. I've seen this item posted a few places today and, not having really even heard of the service, I've been wondering why it's such a big news item. But if lots of folks have been burned using it, I guess that explains it.
posted by ahilal at 8:01 PM on March 19, 2007

Wow, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I initiated a transfer about 4 days ago (after getting the contact information in order) and it went through this evening. It does appear they are responding to transfer requests if you can get the Authorization code.
posted by ontic at 9:38 PM on March 19, 2007

I'm curious to see how (if?) this gets enforced. To look at their front page absolutely nothing has happened, they still claim icann accreditation etc. What actually happens to them if they just ignore it?
posted by nanojath at 10:13 PM on March 19, 2007

I've seen this item posted a few places today and, not having really even heard of the service

If you've ever registered domains and did any comparison shopping you would have heard of them. Since many, many people on metafilter register domains, it's a big topic. I don't really get the whole "I've never heard of it, so I don't know how it's big news", but there you have it.
posted by justgary at 10:15 PM on March 19, 2007

Wow, they are seriously scummy. Their website is still trying to sell registrations!

Somehow, they appear to have forgotten to post a message about going out of business in 2 weeks.

Slimeballs.
posted by Malor at 5:26 AM on March 20, 2007

So, what does this mean for those of us using Registerfuly issued SSL-certs?

I'm not sure if/how yanking their ICANN registration effects their cert chain of authority ...
posted by bhance at 7:00 AM on March 20, 2007

bhance, if I recall correctly they are just a reseller for GeoTrust. It shouldn't impact the SSL. You'll, obviously, have to go somewhere else as yours comes up on expiration, but it should work fine until then.
posted by FlamingBore at 7:37 AM on March 20, 2007

bhance, if you open the certificate file with a browser, you can inspect the chain of authority yourself to determine whether or not you'll be impacted. Normally, in the prompt asking you what to do with the certificate, you'll have a 'more details' option that will let you examine the cert properties closely.

If your chain of trust has the Registerfly name on it, you should probably contact whoever signed THEIR key to see if there are any plans for revocation. Registerfly is obviously quite untrustworthy, and if they have a signing key, it's entirely possible that it could be revoked.
posted by Malor at 10:57 AM on March 20, 2007

Registerfly.com's cert was signed by Comodo, so it doesn't seem that they have a root cert...
posted by SpecialK at 11:32 AM on March 20, 2007

This is a really fucking boring thread. Yeah yeah.. I know it's "all about the links" and not "the discussion" well whatever. I happen to like the discussion as well. Maybe too damn much. However, holy ass munching Moses this: ... but bhance certificate with GeoTrust impact obviously go fine lucky options there you have it FlamingBore revoked options. well I mean for the love of Cunt licking/liking* Magdalene of Calcutta it means nothing! Sorry, the infoclypse ain't started yet geeks, you're still in this world. With people - and not with your techno-shamen brothers and sisters. DEAL WITH IT.
*Delete as appropriate.
The more you censor my posts MutherOwie the faster I progress to the next but last before that level. Edit at your leisure. BTW the infoclypse ain't a type of dance move. Well yeah, I know it sounds like one.. it's not like I made the terms of the future or nothing, I put my vote in like everything else, we lost. So the infoclypse leads to the...said to much already, I must hurry. Peace.
posted by econous at 8:32 PM on March 21, 2007

Oh my. What the...?
posted by FlamingBore at 9:17 PM on March 21, 2007

PUI
posted by Rhomboid at 9:20 PM on March 21, 2007

Ya, that's what I'm thinking.
posted by FlamingBore at 9:29 PM on March 21, 2007

PUI, maybe. It almost begs the question under what? Everything seems pretty slowed down, like sounds of cars pulling away from a stop sign, almost brushing past me with colors. Overhead it's getting light, I just feel afraid. For a little while. Regularity. Light goes red, gets calm and starts again. I like it. Comfatable.
posted by econous at 11:14 PM on March 21, 2007