When does a .io domain drop and become available once it has expired

Question

There is a .io domain name that has expired and I would like to purchase it. I understand with top level generic domains such as .com .net and .org they have several phases before they actually drop. I can't find any information on when .io domains drop.

My question(s):

• How long is the .io redemption period?
• How long is the .io grace period?
• What time of day or night do they start to drop?

Solution

You can read the domain renewal policy here: http://www.nic.io/renewpolicy.html

The domain drops out of expiration and becomes available 90 days after it expires.

nic.io also tells you when the domain will drop. For example, the domain 60.io is dropping in a couple of days, which you can see from the WHOIS info on nic.io: http://nic.io/cgi-bin/whois?query=60.io

60.io

Domain pendingDelete - expired 2014-08-22 13:56, unless it is renewed it will be deleted in a batch run started at 2014-11-21 00:30 UTC/GMT

BTW - I created a service to backorder dropping .io domains at park.IO (it has 100% success rate after 5 months so far)