More than 12 000 South African domain names face deletion because their owners have failed to move them to accredited registrars.
The ZA Central Registry (ZACR) said on Friday that 12 677 .org.za domain names are set for potential deletion on 1 September 2017. This is after 15 420 .org.za domain names were suspended on 1 September 2016 following an extensive pre-deletion public awareness campaign by the ZACR.
“Deletions are taking place because only 2 394 .org.za domain owners have heeded ZACR’s many requests to prevent their eventual deletion by migrating to ZACR-accredited registrars,” it said.
The ZACR is tasked with administering second-level domains within the greater .ZA namespace — which includes .org.za — and is in the process of transferring all .org.za domains from a legacy system to accredited registrars.
Any org.za names that have not been transferred to such registrars by 1 September will be deleted and made available for re-registration on a first-come, first-served basis, said ZACR CEO Lucky Masilela.
Registrants could lose important .org.za domains associated with their brand names as well as expose themselves to possible cost implications later on through the alternative dispute resolution process, he warned.
A complete list of domain names that remain on the .org.za default registrar is available online and will be updated periodically. — © 2017 NewsCentral Media