Back in June of last year the controversial registrar Epik changed owners. Whether that change was purely on paper or if it was a completely new set of people behind the company or not was unknown. Yesterday, however, ICANN finally granted its approval to the transfer of the accreditation’s ownership.
Epik put out a press release on the news:
[Sheridan, WY. January 31, 2024] — After a rigorous, months-long review process, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on Tuesday finalized the transfer of accreditation of the domain registrar Epik from the previous owners at Epik Inc to new ownership, operating under the name Epik LLC.
Since the acquisition of Epik’s assets on June 2, 2023, ICANN has worked with Epik Inc and Epik LLC to ensure a seamless transition for Epik clients. The transfer of accreditation marks the end of that transition. No previous owners, including Epik Inc founder Rob Monster and late stage CEO Brian Royce, are involved in Epik LLC in any capacity, including ownership interest in the business.
Epik LLC’s stated goal in the acquisition was “to preserve a resilient independent registrar as an alternative to what’s available in the market.” Leadership feels the transfer of ICANN accreditation is an important milestone in their long term efforts to restore trust in the Epik brand and provide industry-leading service to their clients.
So they’re clearly stating that neither Rob Monster or Brian Royce have anything to do with the company.
Fine, but who does own the company?
The company’s “about” page talks about the original company but is very light on details.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the company now. As Andrew reported recently they seem to have changed their approach to some of their more controversial clients.
