Any comments would be appreciated.
We are UK based with a .com domain. The domain name is our company name. We have paid the last registration bill
If it was me i'd contact the Hosting Company of your site, this may or may not be the same as the Company who the name is registered with. If you explain the situation and can prove you are the company the site refers to then they should be understanding. If you point out that the person who set up the hosting account has disappeared and you want to update yourselves then they may agree to use an email addess on the site to send the old/new account details too thus they get some security that you are indeed someone affilated with the site. You could also ask them to contact the person who registered the site and if the can't they should be even more inclined to give you the details.
If they totally refuse then at least you can be sure your website is unlikely to be hacked through social engineering.... but this isn't much to you at the moment!
Finally you may just have to wait till the registraion runs out! Again not much use.
Good Luck
I would follow the advice above - contacting the hosting company is appropriate.
[/added]
[nic.uk...]
Is the domain dispute policy for UK domain names..
Nominet will seek a response from the Registrant, after which it will initiate an informal mediation process.
Kind of assumes that the registrant is contactable.
I think writing to the email address listed there is a reasonable first step.
The hosting company is the same as the registration company.
They are absolutely adamant that they are unable to help! Sounds like we will have to wait until the name expires. Not an ideal situation
Talyrond
"however" are they the actual REGISTRAR as approved by ICANN?
if NOT, then I suggest you go direct to your registrar, and try to resolve the situation, maybe a letter from a domain name lawyer to them may help.
1 possible way of finding out who the registrar is by :
[whois.net...]
replacing example.com with your domain.
towards the top of the page should be a line similar to :
[whois.REGISTRAR.com]
good luck
Shak
You also mention you paid the last registration bill. Perhaps the registrar (not the hosting company) will discuss the ownership with you if there is some evidence of that payment that they have access to?
You also mention you paid the last registration bill. Perhaps the registrar (not the hosting company) will discuss the ownership with you if there is some evidence of that payment that they have access to?
I was thinking along the same lines. If your company/name is one of the domain contacts (do a whois), you can transfer the domain to another host. The transfer acknowledgement should come to the whois contacts, who can then approve or disapprove the transfer.
(Unless they've changed something these days.)
We have paid the last registration bill
This is key. I've dealt with small registrars who have not wanted to deal with admin issues at all, so it may take repeated upset phone calls before you get through. But they will be able to track back ownership by credit card used or check cashed. Go this route.
Then there is always a last ditch effort of filing complaint with WIPO. UDRP is the group that does the ruling on this...note that it does cost $1500.
I knew one friend of mine lost his domain to a HK company the minute that the registrar released it, the HK company that backordered it became the new owner. Verisign had kept it in the registry PAST the date it was supposed to be released.
Very upsetting
As long as he is a domain contact, he should be able to transfer the domain to a new registrar, change the dns to the current host (or find a new host - dont forget to download the website first) and be done with it.
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Your friend should never have waited so long to renew his domain, and they even held it past its date before they released it (which is common). Some times you can even renew it at this late point in time, if you catch it before its released.
Thank you
Logically, there is no link. These are unrelated services. Some web hosts sell domain names, but you can register a domain with company A, and host with company B. In fact, generally best to keep these separate.
A web host is where you put your web site.
Some times the web host will register the domain for you, but they still use a registrar to do it.
As long as you are a contact of your domain name....
Go to a new registrar of your choice. Initiate a domain name transfer (you want to transfer the domain name from the old registrar to this new one). The new registrar will send an email to the domain contacts listed in the whois. One of the contacts must then OK the transfer using the method that will be described in that email. Once it is ok'd, it will be placed with your new registrar.
Now with your new registar you have total control of the domain name, including telling it 'where to point to' (DNS). You change the DNS to the name server of your web host (you see these all the time, look at any whois record and you will see something like NS1.Nameserver.Com.)
Usually, you put in the details that your web site HOST has given you, like this NS1.yourwebsitehost.com
This makes the domain name now 'point' to where your web site is hosted.
If you don't like the web site HOST, or cant get in to the HOST account, you can find a different host and put THEIR name server in instead NS1.someotherhost.com and your domain name will 'point' to that web site host.
Registrar - domain name.
Host - web site files.
P.s. Backordering a domain you already have control of is a waste of money. This is used in an attempt to be the first one that gets a domain after it EXPIRES. We are not talking about an expired domain here.
This would be a last resort if you were unable to get control of the domain. Then you would backorder it and hope that you get it once it expires. And that would be only if the domain was not renewed.
In that case, I think back-ordering is a crucial, especially if the registrar does not seem extremely forthcoming and helpful. Time is running out!
If the domain name is relatively obscure, backordering will also be much cheaper than spending $1,200 or $1,500 on arbitration. (IF you're willing to risk a small chance that someone else grabs the domain. DON'T DO IT IF THE DOMAIN IS A VERY GOOD ONE. But if it's of interest as a long-term "development property" only to you, this could be the way to go. You have to decide if it's worth the risk.)
Note that if you have links to your domains, and any kind of representation in the search engines, domain grabbers WILL try to get your domain even if it's relatively obscure! Any domain with traffic catches their eye.
Make sure you back-order with namewinner, snapnames, pool, and as many other services you can find. Backordering with one service is not enough!
Be prepared to go into an auction. Unless the domain is fantastic by itself, chances are you'll be able to outbid any other people interested.
In the unlikely case that you lose the domain to someone else, you might be able to buy it for less than $1,000 but no guarantees.
Personally I would do it that way. (Your investment: about $70 for the snap; all other services you only pay if you get the domain.)
But then, I probably underestimate the value of the domain... I don't know.
Personally I feel that $1,000 goes a long way to buying a new domain and promoting the site at its new location.
You have to decide for yourself.
Sticky-mail me if you have uestions. E.g. in your case, I would also be worried that you might not have a full copy of the website that the web designer created. Make sure to get the files from the current host for safekeeping on your local computer.
We have paid the last registration bill
Looked like he was a contact to me. He would need to respond to verify this or not. You're suggestion is a waste of time and money on debatable services, is no guarantee, and should only be used as a last resort. (Time is running out? How would you know? You must have more info than presented in this thread or I missed something. Or did you mean, like life, time is always 'running out'?)
Under ICANN procedures you can file for arbitration, and if they find him uncontact-able they will instruct the registrar to accept you as the registrant. This takes a bit of time and cost about $1,200.
I'd seriously consider this route. Presumably he will not put up a defence since he can't be contacted on the email address... so I am guessing you would win.
I would also click on "forgotten password" if you assume he isn't being malicious on purpose... that will mean he at least gets a message from the system to his yahoo account or whatever he uses.
Lastly... did you check his PC to see if the forgotten password option goes straight in to his old outlook box?
We finally purchased the .COM version of the name (which was available), then waited the two years for the .ORG to become available. Now we own the .ORG, but don't need it anymore as we developed the .COM instead.
Sigh.
Richard
It's important to keep things in perspective. My reasoning was - if the domain name is something like "greatcustombagpipes dot com" then maybe it's worth the risk letting it drop and saving $1000 or more, with little risk of losing it forever. If it's "bagpipes dot com" you would go through arbitration of course! I think I made it clear that it depends on the domain name.
Some people here are extremely involved in their own domains and spent years and developing them. They would not dream about letting them drop. It's the center of their business.
But there are some small businesses that have their website built, but update it only rarely and don't do any link promotion etc.
In that case, I think it's important to consider, if it's really worth it to go through arbitration.
It depends on the case. It would be interesting to know in this case - is it a very important domain? Or is the domain name only a small part of it, and the main problem is that the website seems out of their control right now? When does the domain expire? Does the website have lots of traffic? Great ranking in the search engines? What is the website's budget?
Kwasher, you might be right and my advice might be complete hogwash. Or it might be the most practical thing to do. It depends on the surrounding circumstances.
Bottom line is, if it does drop and they have even minimal traffic, it's important that it's backordered with several different services.
Johannamck, you seem to have hit the nail on the head. Our site is not a big part of our business.
But, we have had a break through, contact has been made a thing are afoot to take ownership of the Domain name.
There was nothing malicious, more down to incompetence than anything.
One again thank you, I am now far more knowledgably on this topic
1. Retain legal counsel in the jurisdiction of the registrar.
2. Discuss with counsel the filing of a Complaint and an Order to Show Cause (application for TRO) that asserts ownership of the domain and asks for restraints against the transfer of the domain.
3. Join the registrar as a party for the purpose of being bound by orders relating to the restraints.
The objective is to 1) tie up the transfer away of the domain, and, 2) as needed, allow for the renewal of the domain so you don't run into expiration problems.
Webwork, Esq. - This isn't legal advice for any specific situation but an overview of an alternative legal remedy. The arbitration procedure takes time. The TRO approach can lock up a domain to avoid issues such as a disgruntled employee/webmaster changing DNS settings, etc. The judge hearing the TRO may also enter a permanent order based upon the response of the defendant.
