.CO Expired Domain Policy

Introduction

.CO Registry Policy on Expiring Domain Names, Registrant Protection, and Auction Restrictions. Effective Date: October 1, 2026.

This Policy protects registrants, preserves the normal .CO domain-name lifecycle, and establishes Registry oversight of auctions, backorders, sales, warehousing, monetization, and other commercial activities involving expiring or expired .CO domain names.

1. Purpose and Scope

It applies to all .CO-accredited registrars and to activities conducted directly or indirectly through their affiliates, parents, subsidiaries, resellers, service providers, auction platforms, marketplaces, brokers, partners, nominees, contractors, or other persons acting on their behalf ("Registrar-Related Parties").

For purposes of this Policy:

Commercial Expiration Activity means any auction, sale, assignment, backorder, allocation, reservation, retention, warehousing, monetization, traffic exploitation, brokerage, or similar activity involving a domain name because it has expired or is expected to expire.
Expired Domain Name means a .CO domain name whose registration term has expired and that has not completed the applicable expiration, renewal, redemption, pending-delete, and deletion processes.

A registrar may not avoid this Policy by conducting an activity through another party or describing a change in ownership or control as an internal account movement, temporary registration, renewal, restoration, assignment, transfer, or other administrative action.

2. Registrant Protection and Normal Lifecycle

Unless the .CO Registry has granted prior express written authorization, an Expired Domain Name must be allowed to complete the Normal Domain-Name Lifecycle without any commercially motivated change to its registrant, holder, beneficial owner, account holder, controller, or effective user.

Nothing in this Policy limits the existing registrant's right to renew or restore its domain name during an applicable renewal or restoration period. Registrars must provide all notices, renewal opportunities, redemption rights, and protections required by the Registrar Agreement, Registry policies, and applicable law.

3. Restricted Activities

Without the Registry's prior express written authorization, neither a registrar nor a Registrar-Related Party may:

Auction, sell, assign, allocate, transfer, promise, or otherwise make an expiring or Expired Domain Name available to another party;
Change its registrant, holder, beneficial owner, account holder, controller, or effective user as part of an auction, backorder, sale, monetization program, or similar process;
Retain, warehouse, register, or re-register it for the benefit of the registrar, a Registrar-Related Party, selected customer, nominee, proxy, temporary registrant, or intermediary;
Renew, restore, or extend its validity without the existing registrant's authorization in order to prevent or delay deletion or facilitate an auction, sale, assignment, transfer, warehousing arrangement, or other Commercial Expiration Activity;
Use an internal account or portfolio transfer, registrant substitution, sponsorship or registrar transfer, reseller change, nominee, proxy, affiliate, marketplace, broker, intermediary, or similar arrangement to prevent deletion or change effective ownership or control;
Operate or facilitate a backorder, drop-catching, reservation, or waiting-list service that prevents or delays deletion or gives a customer control of the domain name without completion of the Normal Domain-Name Lifecycle;
Use any technical mechanism, timing practice, contractual arrangement, transaction, or third party to circumvent this Policy.

4. Permitted Activities

This Policy does not prohibit:

Renewal or restoration authorized by the existing registrant;
An ordinary change of registrant initiated directly and voluntarily by the lawful registrant;
A bona fide sale, assignment, transfer, merger, acquisition, corporate reorganization, estate transfer, or similar transaction initiated and authorized by the lawful registrant and unrelated to a registrar-operated expiration monetization program;
Standard registrar services performed at the lawful registrant's express direction, provided the registrar receives no financial interest beyond its ordinary service fees and does not use the transaction to circumvent the domain-name lifecycle;
Compliance with applicable law, a court or administrative order, a dispute-resolution decision, or a Registry instruction; or
A backorder or drop-catching service that acts only after deletion and attempts registration through the ordinary, generally available registration process, without preventing or delaying deletion or receiving preferential Registry access.

An activity is not exempt merely because the registrant formally consents if it was initiated, arranged, controlled, or materially incentivized by the registrar or a Registrar-Related Party because the domain name expired.

5. Prior Registry Authorization

The Registry may, at its sole discretion, authorize a Commercial Expiration Activity that would otherwise be restricted. The registrar must obtain express written authorization before offering, advertising, implementing, or conducting it.

Requests must be submitted through the Registry's applicable expired-domain processing proposal and approval.

The Registry may request additional information and impose safeguards, eligibility rules, technical conditions, customer disclosures, reporting requirements, commercial terms, payment obligations, or other conditions. Submission does not require the Registry to approve the proposal.

The registrar remains solely responsible for its relationships and transactions with registrants, auction participants, backorder customers, purchasers, and other third parties. Registry authorization is not an endorsement, warranty, or guarantee and does not relieve the registrar of any contractual, legal, regulatory, consumer-protection, or registrant-protection obligation. It creates no Registry responsibility toward any customer or third party.

The registrar is responsible for activities conducted directly or indirectly on its behalf or through systems or relationships under its control. Noncompliance may result in information requests, review or audit, directions to cease or modify an activity, immediate suspension, modification or revocation of an authorization, remedies under the Registrar Agreement, and any other action permitted by applicable policies, agreements, or law.

6. Registry Rights and Governing Agreements

The Registry reserves the right to interpret and administer this Policy; establish additional requirements; approve, reject, condition, suspend, or revoke activities; and amend the Policy when reasonably necessary to protect registrants or the security, stability, integrity, reputation, or orderly operation of the .CO namespace.

This Policy supplements the Registrar Agreement and other applicable .CO policies. If a conflict exists, the Registrar Agreement prevails unless it expressly provides otherwise. Nothing in this Policy waives, replaces, or limits any obligation arising under the Registrar Agreement, another applicable policy, applicable law, or a binding regulatory or dispute-resolution decision.

7. Effective Date and Existing Programs

This Policy takes effect on October 1, 2026.

Questions and authorization requests must be sent to [email protected].