Freenom.com goes out of business: the .ML, .TK, .GQ and .CF domains freeze

We already talked about Freenom.com here and it is not a surprise that Freenom.com is (finally) going out of business, after ICANN decided to withdraw their Registrar accreditation. Everyone knows who is responsible of this, and the curse placed on Freenom.com (finally) played out!

Unfortunately in yet another blow-up rip-off (which was really Freenom.com’ signature all along since 2003): the .ML, .TK, .GQ and .CF domain names are unable to be updated or renewed. That is more than 12 million domain names affected! Because CloudFlare deletes unresolved domain names: CloudFlare deleted 22% of their hosted domains (wow!).

Freenom.com had been a very long-lasting rotten apple for a nice 21 years (almost a quarter of a century!). Freenom.com will remain a schoolbook classic example of a mismanaged business by its owner(s). From a customer point of view: it shows that you never really own a domain name, you just own its usage.

It is unknown if the countries attached to the .ML, .TK, .GQ and .CF ccTLDs will honor the expiration dates of the domains or even if there is a salvage plan…

This article is a good read for people wanting to know more about Freenom.com and its founder.