To complicate matters, Firevision's owner, Graham Briggs, has reportedly not been replying to emails or taking phone calls. While rumors of the company's impending liquidation have been proven incorrect, this is of small consolation to online entrepreneurs facing an uncertain future over the control of their domain names.
Briggs recently told UK-based IT publication The Register, "We're trying to sort things out at the moment, but email support became really difficult last year due to spam," claiming 10,000 daily spam emails and a recent illness as among the reasons for the current difficulties.
New domains are still being registered by Firevision, however, and nameserver changes are reportedly being performed on existing domains. "Top level whois changes can also be done at https://manage.opensrs.net/, a facility provided by the registry we utilize," Briggs explained.
Nominet, the UK registry which manages .uk domains and authorizes domain registrars, was unaware of any widespread problems with Firevision.
While not willing to discuss any individual cases, Nominet Director of Operations Eleanor Bradley stated that, "In general principle, if you are not happy with your registrar, there is the option to go elsewhere." As the liquidation of registrars is a fairly frequent event, Nominet offers a page on its website providing advice as to the steps concerned parties should take to resolve their domain name issues.
For instance, domain holders may transfer their names to another registrar for as little as £15.
As for the unknown status of Firevision, Nominet closely monitors its registrars and will intervene if the problems are not resolved.