Slashdot Mirror
Recovering Domains from Negligent Registrars?
Mousit asks: "I am curious on how fellow Slashdot readers have dealt with negligent and unresponsive registrars. For a few years or so now, I've been using Jump Domain as my registrar for the domains I own and maintain. This was originally by choice, but for the last year or two it has been by force. I lost a domain to them early last year when I attempted to renew it and the automated process failed, putting it into a 'pending' status in wait for 'manual intervention' as the message told me. This intervention never happened, support tickets about it were never answered, and on top of it my money was never refunded. The domain simply lapsed, expired, and nothing was done about it. Have others experienced similar problems with Jump Domain or any other registrar, and what did they do to recover their domains? Is it even possible? Short of getting a lawyer, the options seem rather slim when a registrar decides to simply ignore you and eat your domains (and your money)."
"Attempts to transfer my domains to other registrars failed for nebulous reasons which were always attributed to Jump Domain's fault and never satisfactorily explained, at least for the .com domains. Since I can't get JD to answer their support tickets, I have never been able to obtain the EPP codes needed for transfering .org domains. I am effectively trapped in Jump Domain's service, and I am losing domains one by one. The story is currently in repetition, with two more domains now stuck in "pending" status. Support tickets are again unanswered, and this time I even have a couple telephone numbers. One simply rings endlessly, while the other answers with a machine for Jump Domain Hosting support. My messages there have gone unanswered. One domain has already lapsed into expiration as of Saturday, the other will go this Thursday.
It's worth noting that Jump Domain used to be a reseller for TUCOWS, but they appear to have been dropped. They are now reselling for the sometimes infamous eNom instead. Considering even TUCOWS couldn't get a response out of JD during the previous lost domain episode, I'm not surprised they had to change. I have contacted eNom but was summarily told I need to deal with Jump Domain, and was given no further help from them."
It's worth noting that Jump Domain used to be a reseller for TUCOWS, but they appear to have been dropped. They are now reselling for the sometimes infamous eNom instead. Considering even TUCOWS couldn't get a response out of JD during the previous lost domain episode, I'm not surprised they had to change. I have contacted eNom but was summarily told I need to deal with Jump Domain, and was given no further help from them."
What are the good/bad domain registrars? Is there a comprehensive list with feedback somewhere?
___
If you think big enough, you'll never have to do it.
Well if you want a physical address i live near these guys and got curious and drove by their office :) It's not a big operation...
He already has domains registered with Jump Domain. He does not want to abandon those domains, and he can't seem to transfer them. You could suggest a thousands amazing registrars, and it won't help him with this problem
OK, I'm assuming this is all occurring in the USA. If so, might it be possible to file a small claims action against them? The money is not large, but at least then you would have a legal decision on your side and perhaps help from the local prosecutors office (or sherrif) to enforce the judgement. It doesn't cost much to have a case heard in small claims court.
Also known as suing your socks off in a defamation suit. Even if you're right, it'll cost ya.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I have had no trouble at all with AllDomains.com. They notify me by mail and email when action is required, and they allow me to lock and auto-renew my domains brainlessly if I want. I'll give them a thumb's up, mostly because I just don't have to think about them - ever.
--- I'd rather live with false hope than with false despair.
A domain registration can indeed be IP... especially (but not only) if it is a trade or service mark.
If there are uncontactable they proably *don't* have an "army of corporate lawyers", but rather it's "Bob" working out of his mother's basement who have no attorney at all.
The good side of this is that you'll win your case and get your domain name back. The downside is that they are most likely judgement proof and you won't actually recover any damages.
Better try the "Office Address" (which is listed as not open to the public) than the masked PO box.
Jump Domain, LLC
1700 W 40 HWY
Blue Springs, MO 64015
Amusingly enough, from their site:
"The ownership of Jump Domain still vests in it's founder. He is active in the day-to-day operations handling most communications with customers. He holds a Bachelors Degree and a Jurist Doctor (Law) Degree." (Bolding mine.)
You'd think he'd realize this kind of stuff can get him sued.
- AMW
If you gave her the domain as a gift, then you should turn it over to her, regardless of how much she has pissed you off. Or do you normally make a practice of giving people gifts, then taking them back?
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
What do you mean USED to?
netsol is still the worst.
I think that at the point you cannot actually administer your domains, you've just made yourself familliar with a domain registar that's worse than netsol...
- Leon Mergen
http://www.solatis.com
I used to have an account with Namezero. I tried many times to contact them, with no avail. They never answered any of my questions (through their website) or replied to any of my emails. I did a whois lookup on them to get a number and called them on that number. There were no returned called. I eventually just ended up saying "fuck you" to them and went with network solutions. I got them to transfer my stuff over to them because Namezero actually used to be a reseller or something for network solutions and I actually ended up with them because I had no one else to get in touch with. They went ahead and transferred me. A few weeks after the transfer a representative from Namezero contacted me apologizing profusely and saying that I should come back to them and that they would provide better service. In addition to reporting them to the better business bureau, I told them to fuck off. The best thing to do is just go with someone else AND report them.
Vivin Suresh Paliath
http://vivin.net
I like
That's not really the issue, that's like telling someone to dispute the credit charge for someone who took their beloved dog to the vet and now the vet won't take your calls or return your dog.
Hide and wait until someone comes and picks up the mail, then follow them back to their HQ. Then have the thugs/mountain men attack.
In my defense, I told her no matter what happened I'd maintain the site and make any changes she wanted or had someone else do and then upload it myself, a gesture of good faith, and she immediately brought up lawyers.
That sounds like you are looking for excuses for her to depend on you for stuff.
Whether it technically or legally belongs to you is beside the point. You were being unreasonable to hold onto it. Just give it to her.
I'll have to run that by my psychoanalyst, but my guess is I'm keeping it because I'm an asshole.
Dude, you're a jackass. Just give her the damn domain and get on with your life. If it was a gift, which you admit, then you're just the technical administrator and she's in the right. As to your broader point, that's what courts and arbitrators (and apparently /.) exist for. Threatening to take someone to court is not extortion. It's presumed (whether true or not) that the courts will fairly and correctly determine who is right and wrong and issue a judgement accordingly. It's also common in the US for the courts to award legal fees in cases that are frivilous and without merit, as well as cases where someone has acted with malice and disregard for the law. Now, go back to your ex, appologize for being a jerk and do the right thing.
bance.net
registrars.
Who the hell even had the power to create a lease/lien situation on domains for these entities?
It is now time to change by FORCE the model in which site name registrants own and control their names.
For example, motorists in NO WAY surrender ownership of their to a toll booth operator when their car breaks down or runs out of gas on the road. The vehicle has a license, and it is allocated, issued, and annually or every two years checked by a DMV.
For registrars to have a mafioso grip on domain names is insane, thievery, and unctuous. It ought to be ILLEGAL for a registrar to take the name of a defunct site operator or to sell it.
However, the registrars will cry foul, and will also say they invest time, energy, research, and other resources into setting up and activating domains for users. Well, to me, that's no justification for locking an account.
But, this BS stance can be alleviated simply by charging the applicant/registrant $10 more for an insurance fee that their domain will NEVER be locked, blocked, or obstructed and that the registrant can change to any registrar at any time, without any DNS-excusing mumbo-jumbo.
Registrars should be forced to operate under a "toll road analogy" in which derelict or broken-down or abandoned vehicles (sites/domains) are tagged, warned, then towed, but NOT owned by the registrar. However, as is typical in modern corruption, sometimes tow companies are as unctuous as rogue and self-serving policy makers can be. SO, we need an electronic grave yard or tow yard which the site's owner can come to reclaim their site. SO, the boneyard/graveyard/towyards also are prohibited, under this model, from hijacking and extorting or bulk-selling off domain names.
Yet, there IS the problem of cybersquatters and of those who don't in timely fashion reasonably respond to questions by other companies and domain holders about potential infringement of name or likeness. If people would be more reasonable about being a "player in the field" instead of impeding competitors who are doing a legitimate, fair job of competing, and if instead of unfairly sidling up to a domain name for unfair purposes people would cease or desist their acts, the registrars would by default be rightfully stripped of some of the inexplicable and far-ranging powers they wield over domain holders.
I would propose that anyone registering for a domain would need to show intent or proof to use the domain imminently (as in under 10 to 20 days time). If they need more time, they could PARK the domain, provided it is for marketing or tactical reasons and not for mere cybersquatting or extortion purposes.
I would propose that the domain contact details require that an identifiable person be physically cataloged if that person can appear before a local office. Otherwise, the business or non-profit or research entity registering a domain should be electronically tied to a city, county, state or federal employer/business registry. This would make it possible for legit companies to establish fair-play appearances.
Individuals, or entities not actually doing business but intending to later convert to profit or non-profit business status, such as bloggers, certain reporters, and information sites should be required to personally register the domain via some utility-like office in their community (unless facial anonymity is a paramount requirement, in the case of authors or publishers of factual but contentious/controversial intellectual material/stories).
That said, some measures may make my above suggestions irrelevant or partially covered. But, there also needs to be an implemented method to deter individuals and business or marketing entities from just making up and registering a warchest/ database of names that never get used, never get surrendered, and clog up the domain registration systems. Maybe an activity counter (possibly Google could do this but ONLY for a country in which that government ALLOWS Google to do this:) to in
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Sue them. That is why we have the Goverment. You don't need a lawyer. Just take some time off, go to the local circuit court, fill out the paper work and figure out what your damages are. Put it at something reasonable like $500. If they even bother to show up, just present your paperwork and some screenshots of what your website looked like. The judge will likely find in your favor and you can move on. If he doesn't then who cares? They would have a HUGE legal bill fighting a $500 complaint.
Offer to settle out of court first, give them time to respond to your complaint (30 days is normal) then submit the paperwork. Its a simple civil process.
Why are people on Slashdot so afraid of exercising their rights and using the courts to protect them? That is what they are there for.
In my defense, I told her no matter what happened I'd maintain the site and make any changes she wanted or had someone else do and then upload it myself, a gesture of good faith, and she immediately brought up lawyers.
This isn't much of an argument -- you're forcing her to "trust" the guy she just broke up with to maintain a site all about her? An act of good faith would be to give her the domain and let her take down the site; this is a mind game. You're trying to "punish" her for her attitude, or for whatever other grievances you have. I know how this kind of stuff happens; someone hurts you and you want to hurt them back... but the fact is that the best way to get back at her would be to move on with your life, enjoy yourself, and make yourself a nice life as if she'd never existed.
Shut the site down, pass off the domain name to her brother or something (so it's off your hands), and move on. Doing something (like hanging the domain name like a sword over her head) expressly to drive her nuts are what you do while you're still in a relationship -- if there's no relationship anymore, it's time to quit.