Best Practice for Client Domain Name Ownership

(what's the best practice today...)

[paybacksa]

A. The client must own the domain name, and be authorized to manage the domain name registration system if necessary (or assign it to a different vendor). That is legally established.

B. Many clients are clueless, and incompetent when it comes to even responding to inquires from trusted vendors. This is well established as well.

C. The tech vendor must be able to manage the domain name, and I don't mean just the DNS records.

So what is the current "best practice" you all use? I have tried several methods, and none of them are bulletproof.

[Fortune Hunter]

paybacksa:

I am not familiar with the legal requirement for the client having to own the domain name, so what I say may not be correct.

I typically just register the domain for my clients and own it in my business name registration account with Network Solutions.

I know this may be a little edgy in the event something were to happen to me, but I have contractors and knowledgable people who can untangle the mess if I were to be run over by a truck.

This system has always worked well for me, but again I am not sure about the legal requirement you mention above.

Fortune Hunter

[oilman]

I walk my client's through the process on the phone if I have to and make them buy it for at least 5 years and then give me the password. I've gone around the bend once to often when I do it my name. It's always a hassle down the road.

[percentages]

Make the client the Registrant and your company the Administrative contact. Effectively they legally own it, and you get to manage it.

Have a clause in your contract that says if they cancel your services then administrative rights to the domain name will be returned to them.

Letting them manage it is a nightmare, if you own it they usually question why they don't. The latter is not always an issue, but you may as well not bother going there.

The real nightmare is when they are the Administrative contact and forget to renew it. I never let that happen now, after being through it twice a few years back it is simply just too much aggravation.

I pay for all domain name renewals and either invoice the client accordingly, or provide the domain name for free.

[martinibuster]

As oilman said, make sure they give you the password, especially if they aren't internet savvy. If you can, be sure to set the domain name to renew automatically- I recently had a client who almost let their PR 5 domain expire. What a hassle.

[photon]

I've read elsewhere that keeping it in your name until full payment was received was a useful leveraging tool if needed. Once final payment was received, the the domain was transferred to the client. If payment wasn't forthcoming, you could shut down the site.

Opinions on this?

[edited by: photon at 1:54 pm (utc) on April 30, 2004]

[paybacksa]

percentages wrote Make the client the Registrant and your company the Administrative contact. Effectively they legally own it, and you get to manage it.

This is textbook approach but practically it hasn't been perfect. If you desire to change registrars and such it is a hassle, and the adminisrative contact always gets all the threatening scam snail mail about how the domain appears to be mismanaged etc...

If they give me the password, they would have to sign expressed written permission for me to access the account. In addition, some registrars Terms of Use are violated by that method.

Granted these are very strict and technical issues... but I have learned that when the money gets large or the relationships sour (such as when new execs come on board or a clinet sells his business) these are essential considerations.

Anybody have contract language regarding this stuff for their accounts? I understand it may not have been considered...

[paybacksa]

By the way, I agree control of the domainname is definitely a leverage tool. However, when the money is big, legal proceedings are a better leverage tool, and they cost both sides money regardless of outcome.

Never try to leverage an elephant. Even sitting still (expending zero energy), if he's sitting on you it hurts.