It was back in November 2011 that we reported that National A-1 Advertising Inc. and R.S. Duffy Inc. agreed to plead guilty to money laundering and will forfeit $4.9 million in revenue, pay a $1.5 million fine and serve 1 1/2 years of probation for its activities in operating Escorts.com as well as forfeiting the domain names Escort.com and Escorts.com.
However the domain names have stayed in the name of R.S. Duffy Inc until today when then domain name Escorts.com changed ownership information and is not owned by the US Marshals Service.
The servers are still going to National A-1 for now.
Interestingly Escort.com has not transferred and is still owned by National A-1 for the moment.
It will also be interesting to see what if anything the government does with the domain, will they sell it, let it drop use it in a campaign for social awareness?
The domain does not expire until 2020.
Registrant Name: Marshals Service, United States
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street: 1901 S. Bell St. 10th Floor
Registrant City: Arlington
Registrant State/Province: VA
Registrant Postal Code: 22202
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.202.307.3497
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: AFDcomplexassets@usdoj.gov
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Marshals Service, United States
Admin Organization: null
Admin Street: 1901 S. Bell St. 10th Floor
Admin City: Arlington
Admin State/Province: VA
Admin Postal Code: 22202
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.202.307.3497
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: AFDcomplexassets@usdoj.gov
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Marshals Service, United States
Tech Organization: null
Tech Street: 1901 S. Bell St. 10th Floor
Tech City: Arlington
Tech State/Province: VA
Tech Postal Code: 22202
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.202.307.3497
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: AFDcomplexassets@usdoj.gov
Name Server: NS.NATIONALA-1ADVERTISING.COM
Name Server: NS4.NATIONALA-1ADVERTISING.COM
Name Server: NS3.NATIONALA-1ADVERTISING.COM
Name Server: NS2.NATIONALA-1ADVERTISING.COM
I can’t imagine how the government could sell Escorts.com without a scandal.
Also, what process would the government use to select a market place? Government contracts are not awarded willy nilly. Who would appraise the domain for the sake of setting a reserve? And how could a government office sell off property without some appraisal to satisfy accountants?
My guess is that they’ll either retain the domain or simply let it drop. But who really knows?
I doubt that they will let it drop.
Expecting a bureaucracy to renew a domain it owns might overestimate government competence.
They will treat it like any asset confiscated due to illegal activity… They will sell it to recoup expenditures used or to help reimburse any person’s who lost money as a result of the illegal activity if any…
Most likely it will go to a government auction and sell to the highest bidder.