Who Owns the Domain??? (Full Version)

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Peppergal -> Who Owns the Domain??? (10/14/2002 7:46:29)

Hello OutFront Friends.

A client of mine (that' s so cool to say that, heh heh) has a problem with his domain name. It was registered by his former web designer, who has since gone out of business. He found out where she registered the domain, but he cannot figure out what the user name and password is for the account...she did not use the same username and password that he used for everything else. We suspect she never put his user name/password, and instead left it as hers, even though the name is registered to him.

Where do we go from here? He wants to move to a different webhost. Can he do that without knowing the username and password for the domain? I have advised him to write to both companies (webhost and domain registration) as well as write to his former designer, who claims that she is no longer " in the business" Originally, he asked her for the username and password for the domain and she said " You don' t need that since I' ll be handling all that for you." That raised some alarm flags for me. I suggested he change all his passwords...it sounds really fishy to me.

The bottom line is....does he own the domain or not? And will a domain company give him access if he knows NEITHER the user name NOR the password? He' s understandably nervous. He really doesn' t want to have to register a new domain...but if he does, I guess we' ll have to leave the current domain up for a while with a redirect page, telling users to dookmark the new address. He' s ranking high in search engines now and we don' t want to lose that, either.

Thanks!



abbeyvet -> RE: Who Owns the Domain??? (10/14/2002 8:36:56)

You can find out whose name the domain is registed in by doing a ' whois' lookup. If your client is the registed owner and administraive contact you should be able to contact the registry involved and get this sorted out. without it having anything to do with the previous designer. Unless is is Verisign in which case it is probably futile to even try this and you might be better of registering a new domain.

The usual thing, or at least I think it is, it is what I do anyway, is to register domains in my clients names, with them as registrant, admin contact and billing contact, though I have a few clients who prefer me to be billing contact as they are nervous about using their cc' s online. Technical contact can be either you or whoever has access to the nameserver - often your host.

You can do a whois lookup here: http://www.accesswhois.com/default.asp




Peppergal -> RE: Who Owns the Domain??? (10/14/2002 10:39:34)

Well, his IS the registered name...but I wonder if she set up the billing info to her own account? What we' re concerned with is how can he prove to them that he is indeed the owner if he knows neither the username or password, and any other tricks (like a security question) to access the account may not work if the " account" itself is hers...do you see what I mean?

I could set up an account at GoDaddy, and register a domain under someone else' s name...but the account info would only be able to be accessed by me. See? I plan on reselling domains, but for every domain I set up I would have a seperate account and be sure to give the owners their username and password. That' s the thing that bugs me...this lady TOLD my client that he DIDN' T NEED the username and password; that' s why I suspect she registered it under her own account.



abbeyvet -> RE: Who Owns the Domain??? (10/14/2002 11:16:49)

If the name is registered in your clients name, at your clients address, then once he can produce documentation proving this then he should have access to change the account to his name. It will mean contacting the registrar, which would probably be smooth if it was registed with somewhere like GoDaddy, either directly or via one of their affiliates, but will probably be a complete nightmare if it was registered with someone like Verisign.

While the three contacts (admin, tech and billing) can all do different things in relation to the domain, including harmfull things if they so wish, at the end of the day the name belongs to the registrant so the fact that the site is at least registered in your clients name is a help.



Shirley -> RE: Who Owns the Domain??? (10/14/2002 11:26:46)

quote:

Unless is is Verisign in which case it is probably futile to even try this and you might be better of registering a new domain.


I have a similar situation and I had to register a new domain for the client.
Repeated faxes with documentation have done nothing. Verisign is STILL impossible to deal with. I just hope the domain you are talking about is with someone else.



JointComms -> RE: Who Owns the Domain??? (10/14/2002 11:30:59)

It would seem your client still has access to the individual who registered the domain therefore your client still has another avenue open to them.

1. Send a registered letter requesting the release of the required information to the registered user. Failing that,

2. No Reply!!! Send another letter threating legal action.

3. No reply!!!! Have a solicitor, barristor, lawyer write the individual to release the information.

4. TAKE legal action for damages, fraud OR both.

Good luck



Peppergal -> RE: Who Owns the Domain??? (10/14/2002 11:31:48)

www.bargainname.com

This is the place where his domain is registered. Is this a good company? I always have a suspicious feeling of places with " Bargain" or " Cheap" in their business names...LOL



abbeyvet -> RE: Who Owns the Domain??? (10/14/2002 12:04:07)

mmm, that site is a mess of 404 errors and looks not to be functioning.

However I would imagine that they are resellers and not actually ICANN accredited registrars, the domain www.bargainname.com is registered to a company in the Caymen Islands, which would not fill me with joy. The Caymen Islands is a place beloved of those with didgy money or a wsh to evade taxes. Usually it is impossible to actually find out who actually owns a Cayman Island company.

These people seem to be the same though

http://www.rtinternet.com/

So you may get somewhere by contacting them. Or not.


I have had a few similar situations to this with clients and have ended up registering a new domain to get on with things while it was being sorted out. Sometimes it does get sorted, sometimes it doesn' t.

It goes to show the importance of knowing who you are dealing with. While there is nothing wrong with resellers or affiliates it should be clearly posted somewhere that a reseller is a resller and for whom they are reselling as the actual ICANN accredited registrar is, at the end of the day the one that matters.

I resell domains for GoDaddy for example, so my clients get all the convenience of the GoDaddy system while dealing with someone they know and getting support from someone they know, and someone a local phone call away in the case of my Irish clients. But it is GoDaddy who maintain the registration so if I disappeared in a puff of smoke tomorrow my clients domain registrations are all quite safe.

Unless you can get the cooperation of either th previous designer or the crowd above, I do not know where you can go next.



Peppergal -> RE: Who Owns the Domain??? (10/15/2002 1:28:28)

Thanks so much Abbyvet. The good news is my client finally got thru to his former designer and she gave him the info he needed; I only hope that he can get his stuff done now. This gets more and more interesting as time goes by. The Cayman Islands, huh? UGH. I think I' ll suggest he transfer the registration to GoDaddy. That seems to be the best place for domains.

I appreciate all the help! Thanks a lot!



Peppergal -> RE: Who Owns the Domain??? (10/15/2002 1:32:03)

quote:

4. TAKE legal action for damages, fraud OR both.

Good luck


Thankfully, it won' t come to that. Hopefully all will be sorted out, and Im going to suggest he re-register at GoDaddy.



Doug G -> RE: Who Owns the Domain??? (10/15/2002 2:48:41)

One of the reasons I like GoDaddy is that it' s owned and funded by a long-time reputable person, Bob Parsons. He used to own Parsons Software of Family Lawyer and other title fame, and sold for a good price.

It' s reassuring to know there is some funding behind a company as crucial as domain registration.

Does anyone know what happens if a registrar should fold? Is there some procedure in place where the domain owners will retain their domain names?




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