Who owns the company's domain name?

Trying to get something back from a scammer...

[sadbuttrue]

Greetings,(sorry for the crude english)

I uesd to work at a travel agency. As you know, you have to pay in advance to make reservations after you travel, sometimes months before. The owner (and executive director) was "stealing" the money: he used it for personal stuff(all, the utilities and the costs) and when he had to pay the passengers services, he used the money tha was coming in for the incoming reservations at that moment. He created a huge "credit" snowball that he couldn't pay for anymore.

So he started to lie to us, the employees, about this, until he couldn't hide it anymore. So now he owes us many months worth of salary. At one time he told us that he was selling his apartment to pay us, but it was a lie. He is telling us now that those are the company's debts, not his debts.

He is trying to keep the websites, and we're trying to take them away from him as a compensation for all the money he owes us. Legally, do we have a chance? The domain's registrar is network solutions, and his name(and the company's name) is there. What are our chances? He has always paid the domain name with the company's credit card!

This is from a country in south-america, BTW. The site has lots of pages(60k), at least 10k daily visits(at most twice that), has SEO and ranks well at lots of travel related keywords.

Thanks in advance...

[simonuk]

If he owns the domain by name and/or company then there isn't anything you can do I'm afraid.

[Webwork]

You might want to read this post about legal issues [webmasterworld.com] before going any further.

[LifeinAsia]

He is telling us now that those are the company's debts, not his debts.

Assuming he setup the company correctly, this is most likely entirely true.

But that is actually good news for you. If the domain name (and site), belong to the company, then I presume they could be included in any legal settlement against the company.

So you and the other employees may need to sue him for back wages, and you may be able to offer to take the domain name/site as partial payment.

But no matter what, you need to talk to a local lawyer who is familiar with business law. You have to understand that if your country's bankruptcy laws are similar to those of other countries, and your boss has racked up a lot of debt, those creditors may take priority over you if the company declares bankruptcy. Again, discuss with a local lawyer.

[sadbuttrue]

Thanks you all for yor replies. I have a couple of questions:

1- How can he separate company debts saying that they are not his and company assets saying that the site is owned by him? Isn't that the same? Wasn't the site a tool for the company paid with company money for years?

2- His name and the company name are on the whois. The company address and company phone number are there too, and the contact mail is his company mail. Is this good or bad? So, how exactly do we determine the domain owner? In court?

Thanks again!

[LifeinAsia]

How can he separate company debts saying that they are not his and company assets saying that the site is owned by him? Isn't that the same? Wasn't the site a tool for the company paid with company money for years?

He can DO anything he wants. What the consequences are when he gets caught are a completely different issue.

So, how exactly do we determine the domain owner? In court?

Most likely. My opinion (which, by the way, has absolutely no value in a court of law down there) is that if the company name is the registrant, then it's a company asset. Registration fees paid with a company credit card further support that opinion, in my mind.

Again, the advice for talking to a local lawyer who is familiar with these types of issues stands.

[mack]

Most compannies will be set up as "limited liability" this does act as a safety net for company owners/directory, but does not shield them from legal proceedings if they have managed the comany in a way that could be perceived as dangerous. Company directory have a legal responsabilility. Perhaps this is one ruit you might want to concider.

Mack.