Freenom, which is operated by OpenTLD, has previously been decertified as a registrar by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), so Freenom can no longer provide new registrations for any domain names. At present, ICANN has designated domain name registrar Gandi as the takeover of Freenom. All top-level domain names (excluding free domain names) registered and hosted in Freenom will be automatically transferred to Gandi.
For example:
If you do not have a Gandi account and you register a COM domain name with Freenom and it is still valid, the COM domain name will be automatically transferred to Gandi.
At the same time, Gandi will send a notification to the registered email address of this COM domain name. When receiving the notification, the user should follow the email instructions and go to Gandi to register an account.
After completing the registration and certification, your new Gandi account can manage this COM domain name. In fact, ICANN has launched the DARTP, the decertified registrar migration program. This migration program will migrate the top-level domain names hosted by the decertified registrar to other designated and reputable registrars.
No transfer out within 60 days after migration:
The DARTP program still involves the transfer of domain names between registrars, so in accordance with ICANN's policy (transfers are prohibited within 60 days of transfer to prevent domain name theft), domain names automatically transferred to Gandi cannot be transferred out within 60 days.
If the user wants to transfer his domain name to another registrar, he must wait for 60 days. If the domain name expires within 60 days, the user must first renew the domain name through Gandi and then transfer it out.
What to do with a free domain name?
Gandi has clearly stated in the notice that this batch migration program does not include any free domain names, including TK, ML, GA, CF, GQ and other domain names.
If you hold these domain names, Gandi’s suggestion is to contact the domain name management agency for consultation or processing. Of course, we know that these domain names have actually begun to be recycled by Freenom or the registry behind them. These free domain names are basically gone (the GA domain name has been recycled by the registry last year, and re-registration costs 20 US dollars/year)
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