Ever since I originally noticed that Apple was registering nonsense domain names, I have been intrigued about why they would be registering and then not renewing nonsense domain names. And it’s not just one or two domain names, or a dozen of them.
This time, Afilias Special Projects has registered 1862 new domain names in the past 24 hours, which is a significant amount of domain names. Registration fees alone for 1800 .info domain names would be at least $15,000. These new domain names, are all .info domain names, and are pointed to the Apple.com name servers, just like the other nonsense domain names I’ve been following.
Here’s a sample list of some of these nonsense domain names registered in the past 24 hours:
aanowhwtibbqqg.info
aaqtrbkbphjjy.info
abaugxkdxxpmqm.info
abdakdhyskuvcn.info
abolfvfpvyma.info
abusvbaugire.info
abysmwtqeajr.info
aeeydivprbnnie.info
aegmyddofrlgksk.info
aeheeaqmirsoe.info
aeylwtgjcibko.info
afhhtgerxddej.info
afuikjfttixx.info
agcxafwjmakng.info
agqlifbfjiyg.info
agruimjfsklcyp.info
ahtbivqnsbhaat.info
ahxvhghwqihkvtd.info
aiahlpgguxlctco.info
Here’s the Whois info on one of them, pointing to Afilias Special Projects. I am certain that these are connected to Apple in some way because of the history of Apple registering (and then dropping) nonsense domain names in the past.
Domain Name:AAQTRBKBPHJJY.INFO
Domain ID: D54221085-LRMS
Creation Date: 2014-12-15T17:04:32Z
Updated Date: 2014-12-15T17:05:37Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2018-12-15T17:04:32Z
Sponsoring Registrar:Afilias Special Projects (R556-LRMS)
Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 9999
WHOIS Server:
Referral URL:
Domain Status: serverTransferProhibited
Domain Status: serverUpdateProhibited
Domain Status: addPeriod
Registrant ID:Afilias-Legal
Registrant Name:Afilias Special Projects
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street: Building 3, Suite 105
Registrant Street: 300 Welsh Road
Registrant City:Horsham
Registrant State/Province:PA
Registrant Postal Code:19044
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.4166463306
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email:
Admin ID:Afilias-Legal
Admin Name:Afilias Special Projects
Admin Organization:
Admin Street: Building 3, Suite 105
Admin Street: 300 Welsh Road
Admin City:Horsham
Admin State/Province:PA
Admin Postal Code:19044
Admin Country:US
Admin Phone:+1.4166463306
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email:
Billing ID:Afilias-Legal
Billing Name:Afilias Special Projects
Billing Organization:
Billing Street: Building 3, Suite 105
Billing Street: 300 Welsh Road
Billing City:Horsham
Billing State/Province:PA
Billing Postal Code:19044
Billing Country:US
Billing Phone:+1.4166463306
Billing Phone Ext:
Billing Fax:
Billing Fax Ext:
Billing Email:
Tech ID:Afilias-Legal
Tech Name:Afilias Special Projects
Tech Organization:
Tech Street: Building 3, Suite 105
Tech Street: 300 Welsh Road
Tech City:Horsham
Tech State/Province:PA
Tech Postal Code:19044
Tech Country:US
Tech Phone:+1.4166463306
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email:
Name Server:NSERVER.APPLE.COM
Name Server:NSERVER2.APPLE.COM
Name Server:NSERVER6.APPLE.COM
Name Server:NSERVER5.APPLE.COM
I’m going to keep track of these domain names and see what they will be used for, perhaps they’re just being used for load balancing or something else related to that. But if they were used for that, then wouldn’t you not want to delete over 500 domain names and then register 1800 more a few days later? Why not just use the domain names that you already have?