Comments on: Who Really Owns Your Domain Name?

By: Leo Fender

Leo Fender — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 10:41:58 +0000

Dart Vader, thank for so detailed explanation. You did this very clear. Yes, you can do transfers of domains free of charge after 45 days after purchasing of it and before 45 days to next renew. If you do this in aforesaid intervals you will need pay additional renew payment.

By: Dart Vader

Dart Vader — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:37:24 +0000

Lynette, you are mistaken a little when say that transferring of domains is free of charge. You are right partially. Let me explain… There are registrators that allows to transfer domains without any additional payment and there are thos who take fee because they lose the client. It is something like forleit. Well… what about first registrator that I mean before.. There is on nuance too. It is possible that you will pay some amount for transfer (but it will be payment for domain renewal). Pay or no is depends on domain register/renewal date. As I remember if you want to transfer domain that you just purchase you will pay renewal fee untill 35 (or 45) days pass from date of purchasing. Also it is correct when 35 days remain till regular renewal.

By: Lynette Chandler

Lynette Chandler — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:46:45 +0000

@Los Angeles PC Repair I’ve seen stuff like that too. Kinda scary because one person can literally hijack your online business.

@ Iman Diaz Thanks so much for the link and helping respond to Eric.

@ Eric Gossler I agree with Iman here. I’m not a lawyer and this should not be considered legal advise, please do consult your attorney on legal matters. But since you registered the .com it’s yours. especially in the situation where you’ve registered it before they started using it as a trademark they should know at the time they registered the .net that the .com was taken and such issues will arise in the future. Like Iman, I agree it sounds like a scare tactic.

I’ve seen this a lot many people disputing over domains get a lawyer to send emails to intimidate the registered owner. If they want it, offer a price. If you don’t want to let it go and want to stand your ground, hiring an attorney is the best advise I can give you.

By: Iman Diaz

Iman Diaz — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:23:55 +0000

Eric Gossler, in my opinion there is no precedent. domain names be it .com , .net or .org are all up for grabs and whoever get it first occupies it.

You get lucky if they decide or forget to re-register when the times comes.

It seems to be its just a scare tactic.

If you have your receipts showing when you registered it, your fine!

Tell them to make you an offer for the domain name, if they want it so badly!

Hope that helps.

Wish I knew of a quoted resource for you…

best of luck!

By: Eric Gossler

Eric Gossler — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:57:19 +0000

I had been providing graphic design services under the name “Imagehaus” since 1992-93. I registered the domain name, imagehaus.com, about a year before a competing company a few states away registered the .net name and trademarked the company name itself.

For the first five years after I registered the domain, I ran a storefront that sold both printing and graphic design. A short time ago I closed the copy shop services and refocused on the design services. Since then, lawyers for the .net company are now claiming copyright infringement and are demanding I relinquish the domain.

Is there any precedent for such a demand, or are there any services available to address these situations?

By: Iman Diaz

Iman Diaz — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:34:34 +0000

I have owned an IT company for 8 years and see this ALL the time, I have posted a link to this article on my website because I agree more people need to be made aware of this problem.

By: Los Angeles PC Repair

Los Angeles PC Repair — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 08:01:40 +0000

Owning a computer consulting firm, I see clients who let their IT guys register the domain under THEIR name! That is just crazy. Always register the domain to the business or business owner.

By: Santa

Santa — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:37:56 +0000

Hi Lynette,
good post – two additions from my side:
a) never register your domain trough your hosting company – you have more flexibility when you run into trouble with one of them.
b) when registering a new domain, I always save all the whois data in a pdf for future reference. Expiration dates (or renewal dates) are entered in my calendar as anniversaries,so I never miss a payment

By: Lynette Chandler

Lynette Chandler — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:46:40 +0000

Hey all, thanks for the response. Everyone has good points and reasons if you’re a designer. I understand the point about being too technical for a client to understand but there is no law that says you can’t set things up for them after they have ordered the domain for themselves. After all that’s what you’re already doing for them isn’t it?

But whatever method you choose, holding a client’s account hostage (when a client is in good standing) is just very nice.

By: Eric Broome

Eric Broome — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:17:06 +0000

Hostgator (www.hostgator.com) held my domain hostage recently. They cancelled my account for not paying, I didn’t pay because they wouldn’t automatically deduct from my PayPal account, and they would double my hosting fee everymonth for being “late” when they wouldn’t bill me until the last second. Definitely a predatory hosting company. Then, even though they were no longer my host, they re-registered my domain name “automagically” and I had to pay them to give it back to me. To make it worse, they forced me to sign up for their “provider’s” domain management service and implied that I had to pay them another $10 or so to do the transfer. It took me over a month to finally get my domain transferred. I actually live in Houston, the same city in which Hostgator is located and seriously comtemplated making a personal appearance but decided against it. They really really suck bad.

By: Jean Moniatte

Jean Moniatte — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:02:35 +0000

We have a CMS (UGAL) that is used by hundreds of small businesses for their website, each using their own domain name. I understand your point, but for practical reason we prefer to own and manage the domains on behalf of our customers. It is much easier than having to explain CNAMES, MX or A records to customers. Having control over the domains will be very helpful should we decide to change our colocation provider (ie a new set of IPs).

We could achieve the same and offer DNS hosting, but DNS hosting being a free service with most of the registrars, there is not much value that we could add.

Note that we do not charge any fees for customers who want to leave with their domain name. That’s the part that does not make sense I think.

By: Melissa Ingold

Melissa Ingold — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:26:35 +0000

Great article. We need to make more people aware of who or where they are buying their domain names. I just hate to see when that sort of thing happens to people that really just had no idea how to go about it.

By: Domains at Retail

Domains at Retail — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:27:11 +0000

I recommend the same to all my clients of my Web Business. I’d rather they have their own control of the domain, so that this type of dispute never happens. I have no reason to hold them hostage for their domain. The effort and making the client angry just isn’t worth it. The only time this could happen is when you get a client who refuses to pay online with a credit card so they want you to grab the domain name for them. They gladly pay a bit more if they don’t have to do anything with it. Still at that point, the registration info should be in the clients name, and the technical contact should be in the Web Designers Business Name.

By: AndreyM

AndreyM — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 13:45:57 +0000

I have my owm domain name but I have not already faced the problems you are writing about here

By: Alicia

Alicia — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 07:49:10 +0000

Another good and sensible article that makes perfect sense.
However, I personally wouldn’t recommend GoDaddy as a registrar- many people seem to have problems with their service, their customer service is often vague at best, and their website is a confusing navigational labyrinth, that even I, a seasoned web user has trouble using easily.
My personal rule of thumb is that I don’t use a service that has another site devoted to trying to keep people away from using it, like http://nodaddy.com/
Moniker, however, is a good service that is easy to use and has friendly, prompt customer service.

By: Andee Sellman, One Sherpa

Andee Sellman, One Sherpa — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 03:15:37 +0000

Good thoughts Lynette,
Often in the heat of things we forget critical things so yours is a timely reminder.
Also when you have multiple domain names an internal register can really help.
This can be better than relying on an outside source to do the renewals.