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Parler.com domain moves to Epik

by — Domain Registrars 175 Comments

Social media network mainly used by conservative voices moves its domain to registrar Epik.

Logo for Parler

The social media network Parler has moved its domain name from DreamHost to Epik, a domain name registrar known for attracting domain names used by far-right and conspiracy theory websites.

Yesterday, the company issued a statement saying that it had not been in touch with Parler since AWS announced that it was kicking the site off of its platform. The statement criticized tech companies for “deplatforming” and appears to have been an attempt to get Parler’s attention.

Amazon was not the registrar for the domain name; DreamHost is a competing webhost and domain name registrar.

The nameserver records for Parler.com still point to AWS servers, so the site is not active at this time. [Update: Parler has now moved its nameservers to Epik.com. But as of 2:40 PM PST on Monday, the site does not resolve.]

Epik is the registrar for Gab.com, another right-leaning social network that is rapidly scaling in light of last week’s events. The company openly courted Gab when other registrars pushed it off their platforms, which led to a number of similar sites choosing Epik as their registrar.

 

Epik continues to bash GoDaddy. GoDaddy says this is why it dropped Epik

by — Domain Registrars 39 Comments

Epik suggests reasons why GoDaddy might have dropped Epik from its Afternic program, and GoDaddy responds.

Logo for Epik domain name company

When PayPal notified Epik in October that it was terminating its services with the domain name registrar, Epik fired off letters blaming a number of organizations for the move. One of the companies that drew its ire was GoDaddy. Epik published attacks against the domain name registrar and provided contact information for many of its employees.

The next month, GoDaddy terminated its Afternic partnership with Epik, apparently catching Epik by surprise.

Epik went public about the termination, apparently violating the contract it signed with GoDaddy in doing so. Epik seemed to tie GoDaddy’s decision to a number of factors, and oddly questioned receiving GoDaddy’s letter “two hours after the election was called for Joe Biden.”

Yesterday, Epik published another letter about the Afternic termination. It argued that one of the factors leading to the termination was that Epik was reporting security issues with the platform.

I reached out to GoDaddy yesterday to see if the company would provide any information about its decision to terminate the partnership with Epik.

Paul Nicks, GoDaddy VP, Domains – Investors and Corporate, issued this statement in response:

Once again, Epik has lobbed baseless accusations against us. To be crystal clear, Epik has not provided us with reports of “repeated Afternic security issues.” If anyone has any concerns about our systems, we work closely with them to answer any questions or resolve issues. This is how a real partnership works.

The reason Epik was dropped has everything to do with their constant attacking of us. We don’t feel the need to partner with someone who time and time again casually lies about a wide variety of issues.

We will not be providing further statements on their business, and reserve the right to explore any and all possible legal options to defend against their baseless claims.

Masterbucks and tax avoidance at center of Epik PayPal controversy

by — Domain Registrars 19 Comments

Alternative currency pitched as way to avoid taxes could be behind PayPal’s decision to stop providing services to Epik.

A screenshot of Epik's page about Masterbucks

This screenshot from June 2018, captured by the Wayback Machine, shows how Epik pitched Masterbucks as a tax-advantaged way to buy and sell domain names.

After Domain Name Wire wrote about PayPal dropping Epik last week, Mashable writer Matt Binder confirmed with PayPal that the decision had nothing to do with Epik catering to fringe and far-right websites. A source told him the issue is with Epik’s Masterbucks.

Epik subsequently took down a blog post that contained several letters it sent in response to the controversy and removed the main page about Masterbucks on its website. The Masterbucks page was removed between yesterday and today, according to Google cache. A knowledge base article about Masterbucks remains online. [Update: the PayPal letters address works again. The URL for the Masterbucks page epik.com/services/masterbucks, which gave a 404 error earlier, now forwards to a website at Masterbucks.com.]

Given the controversy, it’s worth digging into the Masterbucks concept.

Epik pitched Masterbucks as a sort of alternative currency, but it’s essentially store credit. When Epik customers sell domains, they can receive the funds in Masterbucks. They can then use this store credit to register domains, acquire domains on the aftermarket, and use for other Epik services. They can also send “real” money to Epik to add to their Masterbucks account and withdraw Masterbucks into real currency.

Epik pitched Masterbucks as a tax-efficient way to buy and sell domain names. In a post on NamePros last year, Epik CEO Rob Monster wrote:

Proceeds can be held in the form of in-store-credit until redeemed. Redemption to cash is a taxable event, however trading domains for domains is a like-for-like exchange for which there should be no taxable event. Depending on your jurisdiction, you should consult with your tax advisor, but we have yet to see a challenge.

Monster pitched it as a 1031 exchange.

A 1031 exchange is a common tax move in the U.S. for real estate investors. It works like this: a real estate investor sells a property and has a capital gain. Rather than paying taxes on the capital gain, they can essentially roll that gain into the purchase of another property.

While the concept was previously used for things other than real estate, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in 2017  changed the law to say that 1031 exchanges could only be applied to real estate.

Monster pitched the 1031 exchange value of domain names after this change.

Applying 1031 exchange law to domain names could be a big tax advantage.

Epik customers in the U.S. who used Masterbucks to avoid paying taxes could be in trouble. In October 2018, Monster wrote on Domain Name Wire, “We have folks buying and selling daily, tax-free as 1031 transactions.”

PayPal drops Epik, sparking registrar to cry it is being “deplatformed”

by — Domain Registrars 26 Comments

PayPal apparently inquired about flows of money through the registrar before terminating services; domain name registrar with controversial customers says it is being deplatformed.

PayPal logo

PayPal has discontinued providing services to domain name registrar Epik.

It’s not entirely clear what happened, but Epik has commented on the decision in multi-page letters to PayPal employees, the CEO of PayPal, and a reporter for Bloomberg who apparently asked the company about some of the sites that use its services.

The letters from Epik SVP of Strategy and Communications Rob Davis noted that PayPal informed it:

“PayPal has determined that we will no longer provide our services to you due to service risk. A business decision has been made to no longer process transactions on your behalf…”

PayPal did not allow it to appeal.

Further explanation in the letters suggests that PayPal inquired about the provenance of some of the money flowing through Epik. In a letter to PayPal’s CEO, Davis wrote:

This is before we even address what looks like the intentional and inaccurate classification of our proven business model as a domain registrar, as a possible money laundering operation invoking compartmentalized handling procedures for convenient cover related to the Patriot Act…

Davis mentions that PayPal inquired about offshore numbered accounts, money transmission licenses, Patriot Act certificates, AML, external process flows, and other queries related to cross‐border activities and law enforcement. He called these questions “absolutely absurd, and well outside of any knowledge or experience we have as a domain registrar.”

Epik believes PayPal’s action is actually an attempt to “deplatform” the registrar, which is known for catering to fringe and far-right groups. Among its customers are Gab.com, which came under fire after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, and Alex Jones’ InfoWars, a conspiracy theory site.

In an open letter to PayPal employees, Davis wrote:

It would appear that in a direct effort to silence conservative voices, PayPal has terminated our payment services ‐ just two weeks before a Presidential election. While the concept of technology firms targeting conservative‐owned companies to deplatform, demonetize, and deindex users is not unknown to us, the degree of tyranny and oppression that this particular action represents cannot go unaddressed by the American people. The fact that PayPal would initiate these steps at the exact time major technology firms are being exposed for censorship and being called to Congress is beyond rational thinking. It is like key executives are going out of their way to subject your company to the type of scrutiny that changes organizations forever.

…. With more than 100,000 customers and approximately two million domain names under management, many of our clients also represent leading conservative voices, who together can achieve and influence hundreds of millions of unique visitors each and every month. In the wake of damning evidence about Hunter Biden that threatens to expose elements of the DNC for being overtly anti‐American, PayPal has now seemingly moved into an aggressive phase of delivering brutal consequences for those who stand for truth.

Epik also links to a story about PayPal accidentally asking some sellers for additional information related to their accounts. PayPal said it was a technical error, but Epik links to it by suggesting that the glitch was really a cover for deplatforming.

The registrar also published contact information for many PayPal and GoDaddy executives.

Update: Mashable reports that PayPal confirmed it was confirmed about financial risk. A source told it the issue is with Epik’s “Masterbucks” currency.

August’s top news and podcasts

by — Uncategorized 0 Comments

Top 5 etched into a rubber stampHere are the top five stories on Domain Name Wire last month, ranked by views:

1. Turmoil in the SSL market – After propping them up, browser makers are dealing a big blow to SSL certificate sellers.

2. Epik CEO Rob Monster statement on 8chan – Rob Monster and Epik were in the spotlight again last month after 8chan moved its domain to the registrar. It will allow the domain to stay, but not use its other services after its upstream provider cut it off.

3. This is a dirty way to use an expired domain – A double amputee’s domain expired. Someone bought it and turned it into a gambling site with a new logo matching the guy’s name.

4. Scott Wagner leaving GoDaddy for health reasons, new CEO from Expedia named – It’s the end of an era at GoDaddy.  Aman Bhutani will take over as CEO.

5. Huh. Guy wants to trademark “Premium Domain” – This trademark application isn’t going anywhere.

Here are the four podcasts from the month:

#250 – I speak with Mitch Stoltz about EFF’s concerns about the new .org contract. Listen

#249 – Jeffrey Black’s attorney, Mike Rodenbaugh, discusses the expensive battle to defend IMI.com. Listen

#248 – I chat with Radix CEO Sandeep Ramchandani about the state of new TLDs and his company. Listen

#247 – New Sedo CEO Matthias Conrad explains what his company does well and how it can improve, plus his early impressions of the domain aftermarket. Listen

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