One of my clients has a .co.uk domain name that they registered back in 2000. Company X who registered the name originally, used their name as the legal registrant and not my clients.
Company X was bought by Company Y back in 2002 and Company Y was swallowed up by Company Z in 2004. Nominet stil show Company X as the legal registrant.
Personally, I would be inclined just to transfer the domain name using ...erm... acquired letterhead of Company X to my client. But the client would rather keep everything above board.
I'm concerned that speaking to Nominet will open up a whole can of worms over ownership and could result in the client losing the domain.
Anyone give me any pointers on the best approach?
Anyone give me any pointers on the best approach?
Nominet are very funny guys -- they refuse to give DNS zone files, and they started charging money for ownership change -- that is, they allow free change of details on admin, tech contacts, but if you want to legally own domain from their point of view you will have to ask them for ownership transfer form which previous owner will have to fill in. You will have to pay money, which in itself is not a problem, but the process they created is a major PITA.
The easiest thing is to get someone from Company X (Director or Secretary) sign domain ownership transfer form. Alternative is to get all papers in order showing Nominet that by virtue of acquisition Company Z is the legal owner. This will certainly take more time.
