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You've got to be shipping me: KatherineRyan.co.uk suggests the comedian has diversified into freight forwarding

We know 2020 has been hard on the standup circuit, but really?

Comedian Katherine Ryan has found her eponymous website redirected to an Australian shipping company following a domain expiry.

It's normally the certificates that catch people out, but it seems Ryan had a chum deal with the website – an ideal arrangement at the time, we're sure, but less than handy when things turn sour.

In this case, according to Ryan, a friend is divorcing the person who ran the site and, as she observed: "THIS COULD BE A LOT WORSE."

It certainly could. Although a glance at the urban dictionary indicates that "shipping" is not an entirely innocent word nowadays either.

Register reader Gordon Lawrie spotted the oopsie and directed us to the Whois resources, which showed the domain expiring in August. It was eventually picked up in November (by the marvellously named Domeinwinkel, judging by the records), although we're not entirely sure when it began to be used for the freight company, Cargo Masters.

Ryan reckoned the situation could be sorted, if not for that pesky relationship issue.

Lawrie, a cyberlaw and trademark student, undertook some further sleuthing and told us: "From what I can see, the website was originally built by Baker Creative Design Consultants Ltd. On 19/09/2017 the domain was moved from their nameservers to 123Reg, and the Internet Archive shows that the site lost their credit around that time, so it appears that that is when the friend's ex took control. From there the domain expired on the 21st of August 2020, was dropped on 17th September 2020 and was finally deleted and grabbed by CatchTiger.com on the 17th November 2020. They then appear to have sold it on on the 18th of November."

He came up empty as to exactly when the forwarding began, or why: "I've not been able to ascertain when it started advertising Aussie Freight services," he said, "though given the current lockdown strangling the performing arts and Brexit meaning that trade with the other side of the world is going to be more important, maybe it's not such an outlandish area for the new owner to diversify into."

Indeed, while it may occasionally seem (to UK viewers at least) that Ryan has reached levels of ubiquity on television panel shows that her peers can only dream of, it would be fair to say that the entertainment industry has had a grim 2020. A bit of diversification is probably on the cards for many performers.

As for Ryan, her representatives directed The Register to the comedian's social media feed, where she seemed to be getting into the spirit of things.

And CargoMaster? It did not immediately respond to our enquiry. UK-based readers seeking tickets for Ryan's 2021 tour of the country can find them here unless some international shipping is truly what you desire. ®

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