A friend who I was helping walk through her own first-time domain registration asked me this question, and I had to admit I had no idea!

Has this ever happened? Would this have serious consequences or is it all handled via ICANN (and if so, how would you still access managing any of the domains)?

Just wondering...

In the Icann Registrar-Registry Agreement it basically states that if a Registrar is declared insolvent or bankrupt, then they must transfer all their domains to another accredited registrar. See: http://www.icann.org/tlds/org/applications/isoc/AppendixD.html

It's kind of like when banks go bankrupt. They are just quietly sold to another bank with deeper pockets.

As I understand it, Dordora was recently forced into bankruptcy proceedings by it's creditors in Dallas. The court ordered receiver took control and had Directi take over management of the names. Because there was no cooperation from the Dodora management executives, there were a few bumps in the road which took a few weeks to get sorted out. But, other than some minor inconvenience, I don't think anyone lost their domain or anything.

I certainly wouldn't lose sleep over it.