Registrar gone out of business.

What happens when when a registrar goes out of business.

[algari]

Recently I read about a domain owner's problem of inability to transfer his domain names to a new registrar from his present registrar who has gone out of business. When the domain name holder tried to communicate with the bankrupt registrar they did not reply to his emails. The control panel/user interface was also not available. In such situation what should be done to save domain name from expiring and losing the ownership, especially when expiry date is round the corner?

[KFish]

Register this domain as a "Backordering". Once it expires you can grab it.

[encyclo]

The answer depends on the registrar.

If the registrar is an ICANN-accredited registrar, then if the registrar goes out of business, the usual procedure is that ICANN arranges for all the domains held by that registrar to be bulk transferred to a new registrar who has agreed to take on the domains.

If the registrar is a reseller, then you should contact the parent via whom the company was registering the domains.

Back-ordering is hazardous, expensive, and will mean a lengthy period when the domain is inactive. So it is always a good idea to have important domains registered for multiple years.