any way to transfer a domain without getting a signature from owner?

[partha]

Here's the problem:

The client I'm working for now originally hired another "web designer", but it turned out that after months of paying him, he hadn't actually done *anything* really. so he got canned of course and I got his job. he did, however register a bunch of domain names for the company. he registered them completely in his name though. the company wants to use one of the domains he registered now for the website I designed, but he left town and totally disappeared. They haven't been able to contact him at all.

I'm pretty sure this is hopeless, but I just want to make sure there isn't any possibility of being able to use that domain. Is there any way I (or the company) can get control of the domain without being able to contact him? or is there any way to point it to the address of the website without being able to contact him?

[Bones]

From recent experience, it seems that the procedure for transferring domains like com/org/net changed back in Novemeber. If you do a transfer request and the Admin contact listed on the Whois doesn't respond with 5 (?) days, the domain is transferred automatically.

If the admin contact does decline the transfer request then obviously the domain won't get transferred and you'll probably lose your transfer fee.

If it's another tld, then I don't know. Good luck.

[mcavic]

If you do a transfer request and the Admin contact listed on the Whois doesn't respond with 5 (?) days, the domain is transferred automatically.

No, the contact still has to respond affirmatively.

[larryhatch]

I suppose this is painfully obvious .. but ..
Who is dumb enough to let their domain be registered in somebody else's name?

[mcavic]

It's not that dumb. Say you're a small business owner. You hire someone to develop a site. The first step is registering a domain. The developer, assuming he is trustworthy, registers it in his own name because it's easier to manage and keep renewed that way.

The only problem is when he skips town. Still, that's why you have the option of listing more than one contact.

[davezan]

Partha, your problem isn't unique. Larryhatch, the reality is not too many people know
that, more so would be even too afraid to touch something they know very little to
practically nothing about.

Going back to answering your question at hand, Partha, unfortunately there are little
to no laws defining the scopes and limits of this rather complex problem. As you realize,
whoever is listed as the registrant is the "legal owner", no ifs ands or buts.

You could try transferring the name to another registrar. But here are some questions
to consider:

1. Does the gaining registrar require email confirmation from the transfer contact on
record or just via fax?

2. Is the domain name locked at the current registrar?

3. Do you or anyone else have access?

4. Assuming the individual in question is listed as the registrant, is there anyone else
listed as the administrative contact?

5. When the agreement was made between your associate/s and the person, was
there any sort of signed agreement stating limits on the domain name itself?

Assuming you don't have access and only the registrant is the listed contact as well,
you have no choice but to either seek out the registrant or seek legal advice.

I realize it's not much but I hope this helps.

[Sanenet]

Whose credit card was it registered by? If you own the card, then you probably stand a good chance of getting the registrar to recognise you as the owner.

[davezan]

Sanenet, I'll bet you (figuratively speaking) the card used was that web designer's.
And that was another tremendous mistake.