Woman faces changing 211 accounts following .name domain termination

Woman states termination of third-level .name domains has created a full-time job.

A few days back, I wrote that I think ICANN and Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) ought to reverse course on terminating third-level .name domains.

ICANN just published another reconsideration request (pdf), and it perfectly captures the hardship some people are experiencing.

Judy Johnston registered a third-level .name domain in 2002, and has been using it for nearly 25 years. She and her 97-year-old mother both use it for email addresses.

She states all her online accounts are tied to this domain and that she will need to change at least 211 accounts.

Johnston notes that she and her mom are both senior citizens, and updating their accounts is difficult.

If she needs to change accounts following her domain is terminated, she will have to recover them manually. Some accounts are by now asking her to send multiple forms of identification and fill out data protection forms.

“This will be (and by now has been) a full-time daily job for weeks,” she wrote.

Others in her position may not realize they are regarding to lose their email address. Following receiving a notification from Network Solutions, Johnston called the firm to ask regarding her options. Multiple client service representatives told her the email was a scam and she ought to ignore it since her domain was secured through 2030.

She had to tell a representative to search “.name termination” to realize it wasn’t fake.