How to Transfer a “Premium” Domain to another Registrar

Question

Short Version:

How do I transfer a .tv domain from one registrar (enom.tv) to another (godaddy.com) when the current registrar considers this a "Premium" domain and won't generate a transfer authorization (EPP) code? (The Premium status was determined after the domain had already been in use.)

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Long Rant Version:

I came in possession of a .tv domain by way of company acquisition, and we use it for streaming video. It was purchased at or around the going rate ($10-20 US), but last week our site suddenly stopped working. The Execs quickly paid the extortionate $750 renewal fee to enom.tv, and once the DNS dust settled, we were back in business. The contact email address is a distibution list, and nary a notice had been received. New priority: transfer registrar.

I've verified that GoDaddy can in fact register .tv domains, which is where most of our domains are registered. So I opened up the domain for transfer within enom's tools, and attempted to run the transfer from within the GoDaddy console. A call to GoDaddy's tech support informed me of a need to get some Authorization Key, so I clicked the appropriate button within the elom tools. And waited. And waited...

Today I called the customer support number and after about 15 minutes was told basically that they are the only authorized registrar for certain .tv domains deterimed to be "premium names", and for them, the higher rate applies.

To summarize: "Eat it and Pay Up."

I have found that nbc.tv is registered through GoDaddy. I find it hard to believe that they are not a "Premium Name"...

The enom rep also claimed that expiration notices had been sent, but nobody on the contact distribution list received anything. (I had, of course, tested that it works previously.) He responded and said that they must have been put on a spammer list, but we're receiving their trouble ticket notices. (Lies, and Lies.)

This screams of shady. Does anybody have any ideas of how to forcibly transfer our domain against our current registrar's wishes? Or failing that, some recourse?

Answer 1

Unfortunately it does look like you are stuck. Enom are the only ones authorised to handle .tv "Premium" domains. See the FAQ here. It sucks, but there's no around it.

Answer 2

I can't find any sign of an elom registrar or an elom.tv domain. There is an enom registrar, so it's likely that you mistyped it (over and over), but I can't help but wonder if you've fallen victim to some elaborate fake registrar ruse.

I would start by telling GoDaddy that you have this domain, you'd really love to transfer it to them, but the other company won't issue an auth code even though you're paid in full and marked the domain as transferrable. I'm sure they've got ideas on how to get you to pay them instead of their competitor.

Failing that, Verisign operates the .tv registry, and is responsible for certifying the registrars who issue domains on there. I'm not sure if they have any kind of complaint form that end users can use (or if you file a complaint about a registrar, if anything will happen).