With that out of the way, I have a domain that will expire in about 60 days (more or less) and this person emails me offering $500 to purchase it through escrow so I say sure.
They company will not transfer the domain no matter what actions I take, I then ask them how much of a fee it will take for them to transfer the domain and they tell me they will transfer it for $100. Below I have pasted the emails between TWO support ticket issues. The first one is regarding legal action, the second one is regarding paying a fee for the transfer.
I sent the following ticket submission:
"Hello,
I submitted a ticket yesterday regarding a transfer of the domain (domain name) and was told I could not transfer the domain to another party. I then reviewed the ICANN website searching for issues and rules related to this problem.
After reading over the ICANN information I contacted a legal representative and was told to contact your company once more and include my contact information to insure that the company can contact me directly and are fully aware of the potential direction and how it can be avoided. Basically I was told to try once more.
I am asking for your company to allow me to transfer the domain (domain name) to another party.
I sincerely hope we can resolve this issue in a timely manner as I am willing to work with your company so we can achieve this task.
However, I am fully prepared to move forward in contacting a legal representative as well as an Internal Revenue Service representative regarding a business that may be projecting that they are a legal registered business and or who can possibly investigate its financial practices relating to taxing of a registered business or one who projects to be a registered business.
Again, I hope that we can resolve this issue to avoid any further steps.
I have the WHOIS contact information for (hosting company)but have yet to go that far as I hope you are willing to work with me.
If you refuse to help me with this issue, I would like to know if your legal department is accepting services at this point and if so, I would like to request the contact information of that department.
Regards,
(me)"
I then receive this reply:
"(hosting company) is not and ICANN accredited registrar and we are therefore not required to follow their rules.
When you purchased this domain you agreed to a legal contract for services that states the domain is non-transferable.
The address displayed in the whois is a mail forwarding service, this company and its owners are not based in the united states and so not required to have anything to do with the IRS."
REGARDING SECOND TICKET:
"I spoke with the person who wants to buy the domain (domain name) and he wants to try and pay to have the domain transferred. What will you charge to have the domain transferred?"
Their reply:
"Normally we do not allow transfers of domains as it is against our policy. However we would be willing to transfer the domain for a fee of $100."
My reply:
"Once payment is made how will I know you will keep your word and transfer the domain?"
Their reply:
"Well there isnt really any way we can prove it to you.
But we will transfer the domain."
My Reply:
I will only move forward with this if you agree to use an escrow service which I will pay all escrow fees but I choose the escrow service, otherwise I will continue my legal pursuit which even if it fails, your company will be out more money than you will be making if we go through this using escrow."
Any advice?
[edited by: casey133 at 4:21 am (utc) on Feb. 17, 2006]
It's a sleezy practice, but I imagine completely legal.
This happens a lot with "free" domain names that come with a hosting package.
My registrar won't let me transfer my domain, what do I do?
If you're having trouble transferring your domain from one registrar to another, you should contact the registrar you want to transfer to for assistance. If your preferred registrar is having any trouble processing your transfer, your registrar can obtain assistance from ICANN or the registry operator as appropriate.
Registrars are not permitted to deny transfer requests arbitrarily. ICANN has no policy that permits or requires registrars to deny outgoing transfer requests solely because the registration is within X number of days before expiration. In any case where a "losing" registrar does deny a transfer request, it is required to provide the "gaining" registrar with a notice of the denial and a specific reason for the denial.
For your reference, the "Policy on Transfer of Sponsorship of Registrations Between Registrars" is set forth in Exhibit B to the Registry-Registrar Agreement. For details on updates to ICANN's transfer policies, please refer to <http://www.icann.org/transfers/>.
ISPs commonly offer these "free" domains with a hosting package, and use the domain registration as a hook to retain the customer if they want to leave. If the customer has built-up any economic value in the domain name, they don't have much of a choice at that point. They either have to stay, or pay whatever the ISP demands to turn over the registration.
Don't let this happen to you. Always register your domains yourself, with an ICANN-accredited registrar.
