How to keep your Existing Domain Name
Over time I have discovered that one of the most perplexing situations a client can be in is the expiration or deletion of their own domain name through a registrar (the company you paid to register the domain on your behalf). As the registrant owns the property, it is far more emotional to suffer the consequences of losing it, which is inevitable unless you take some action. Each registrar has policies which it must adhere to by law, and then some others which it can be lax about. Over the past few years, abuses in the process have been on the rise and require that you be better informed about how the system works. Most important of these is what the registrar does with your domain when it expires and since this field causes great confusion for the average registrant, it is important we clear this up first.
Your first step is to confirm your expiration, status and registrar info. My favorite is at Domain Tools where you can just type in the domain name and it will give you all the information you need in the very first search field labeled "search whois". Results should show you or your company as the Registrant. If not you need to go right to ICANN and start a domain dispute unless it shows "private registrant" which means you protected your privacy when you registered. Either way, under the "registry data" you should see an ICANN REGISTRAR field. This is the company that was ultimately responsible for acquiring your domain initially and they are your first point of contact for all disputes.
The body which regulates domain names is called ICANN. From a registrant's perspective, they are an administrative body which handles the writing of laws and the process for dealing with disputes and resolutions. Their domain expiration law states that as a general rule, registrars have about 30 days to hold onto the domain in expiring status before releasing it into deleted status. During this time, your domain is published to a number of websites which track expiring domains and if your domain is of interest, may start generating bids or traffic. In order to circumvent this process, you must first do everything you can to assault the registrar with complaints about their process, ability to allow you to renew or failure to notify you. Sometimes you can get through and get your domain renewed. Please keep in mind that per the domain rules, they cannot hold up your renewal simply because you owe them money for other domains or services. If they try to get you to pay for something else, go right to ICANN.
You might think they are being shady or dishonest and you might be right. However, they don’t want to hear ICANN yelling at them about not upholding a domain holder’s rights, so make sure you head down the road of contacting the registrar right away. If this fails you can take the next step and start a dispute. You can even get the domain held up indefinitely if you are the domain holder by putting a lock on it. Check the Expired Domain Deletion Policy at ICANN which clearly states that a second notice or reminder is required to be effected by the registrar company before your domain can be cancelled - clearly one point of contention for you or your company. The second is that extenuating circumstances may allow you to hold the domain in lock, such as “Failure of a Registrar’s renewal process” (for instance, your credit card info was correct but was refused), “Registrant is in bankruptcy”, “Discrepancy in the amount paid”, or “Billing dispute”. At the very least, instigating one of these causes of action will allow you to take the domain off the expiring list and give you time to consider your next step to get the domain if you lose your case. Depending on the value of your name, to yourself and/or the domain buyers community, you might want to seek counsel immediately to hold the domain in lock while you dispute the issue. If the domain is of importance to you in terms of revenue, you can force the registrar to forward the resolution of the name to another website, allowing you to continue having the revenue stream.
Keep in mind that as a general rule, registrars are actually on your side to an extent because if they lose any face with ICANN on such a simple issue, it can lead to problems for their accreditation. This doesn’t mean that as a rule they are more than happy to sell your domain into an auction if uncontested, but once you bring action everything is in the spotlight and their backdoor policies will take a backseat to your frontal assault.
Now let's assume that for all purposes you have either travelled down this road and lost or it's near the day of expiration and you have no opportunity to get the domain into lock before it is auctioned off. Despite what you may think, this does not mean the domain will be gone today. First things first - the registrar wants to sell it to someone else so that they don't lose the domain record and can keep that revenue coming in indefinitely.
The most important aspect of this equation is the registrar's Domain Drop Policy. There are a few who have no policy, but your first step is to call them and ask if they participate in auctions for expired domains and who that auction company is. As of July 2008, the major list is:
However, if your domain is one which goes to an auction drop reseller, such as the list above, you will need to head over to their website and register ASAP! Once you become a regular buyer, you can now bid on the domain in question like anyone else, and chances are most of the time it will not cost you more than about $70. If some some reason it is a very hot domain, you can expect to pay whatever anyone else is willing to bid up to. However your name and bid will be kept secret and you don't have to worry about anyone finding out who won, especially if you opt to register the domain after winning with the privacy option. Your domain will probably be part of a pre-release or "in-house" auction, which is a way of saying that the original registrar is holding onto your property but changing the name of the registrant. Either way, your goal is to get on the bandwagon right away.
In any case, there is no doubt that your first step should be to contact the registrar first as they are the ones with the most power during the first 10-15 days. After that you need to get in touch with ICANN before your domain hits the auction block, and make sure you get a lock on it within 30 days. Rules and Regulations regarding domain names can be difficult at best, even knowing everything I have outlined above. Once again, if your domain is of great value to you, find a good lawyer/counsel right away. I might recommend trying FindLaw.com, but as always, lawyers will make a process which you have full rights to initiate yourself much more costly. Even if you are forced to buy your domain through auction or a drop pickup provider, your dispute process may enable you to get the domain for free, which might be an issue if you paid a great deal of money at auction.
First and foremost, watch your domains. If you have a true registered trademark, this might protect you in all events as the Uniform Domain Dispute Policy will protect copyright holders before scalpers. In any event, learn the auctioneers which hold your names and do falter in your quest to buy the names before they go out to the domain watcher lists.
Your first step is to confirm your expiration, status and registrar info. My favorite is at Domain Tools where you can just type in the domain name and it will give you all the information you need in the very first search field labeled "search whois". Results should show you or your company as the Registrant. If not you need to go right to ICANN and start a domain dispute unless it shows "private registrant" which means you protected your privacy when you registered. Either way, under the "registry data" you should see an ICANN REGISTRAR field. This is the company that was ultimately responsible for acquiring your domain initially and they are your first point of contact for all disputes.
The body which regulates domain names is called ICANN. From a registrant's perspective, they are an administrative body which handles the writing of laws and the process for dealing with disputes and resolutions. Their domain expiration law states that as a general rule, registrars have about 30 days to hold onto the domain in expiring status before releasing it into deleted status. During this time, your domain is published to a number of websites which track expiring domains and if your domain is of interest, may start generating bids or traffic. In order to circumvent this process, you must first do everything you can to assault the registrar with complaints about their process, ability to allow you to renew or failure to notify you. Sometimes you can get through and get your domain renewed. Please keep in mind that per the domain rules, they cannot hold up your renewal simply because you owe them money for other domains or services. If they try to get you to pay for something else, go right to ICANN.
You might think they are being shady or dishonest and you might be right. However, they don’t want to hear ICANN yelling at them about not upholding a domain holder’s rights, so make sure you head down the road of contacting the registrar right away. If this fails you can take the next step and start a dispute. You can even get the domain held up indefinitely if you are the domain holder by putting a lock on it. Check the Expired Domain Deletion Policy at ICANN which clearly states that a second notice or reminder is required to be effected by the registrar company before your domain can be cancelled - clearly one point of contention for you or your company. The second is that extenuating circumstances may allow you to hold the domain in lock, such as “Failure of a Registrar’s renewal process” (for instance, your credit card info was correct but was refused), “Registrant is in bankruptcy”, “Discrepancy in the amount paid”, or “Billing dispute”. At the very least, instigating one of these causes of action will allow you to take the domain off the expiring list and give you time to consider your next step to get the domain if you lose your case. Depending on the value of your name, to yourself and/or the domain buyers community, you might want to seek counsel immediately to hold the domain in lock while you dispute the issue. If the domain is of importance to you in terms of revenue, you can force the registrar to forward the resolution of the name to another website, allowing you to continue having the revenue stream.
Keep in mind that as a general rule, registrars are actually on your side to an extent because if they lose any face with ICANN on such a simple issue, it can lead to problems for their accreditation. This doesn’t mean that as a rule they are more than happy to sell your domain into an auction if uncontested, but once you bring action everything is in the spotlight and their backdoor policies will take a backseat to your frontal assault.
Now let's assume that for all purposes you have either travelled down this road and lost or it's near the day of expiration and you have no opportunity to get the domain into lock before it is auctioned off. Despite what you may think, this does not mean the domain will be gone today. First things first - the registrar wants to sell it to someone else so that they don't lose the domain record and can keep that revenue coming in indefinitely.
The most important aspect of this equation is the registrar's Domain Drop Policy. There are a few who have no policy, but your first step is to call them and ask if they participate in auctions for expired domains and who that auction company is. As of July 2008, the major list is:
- Godaddy : TDNAM.com handles all auctionable property. Also be sure to search for the domain on GoDaddy's website and if the "Backorder this domain" checkbox is availab,e check it and deal with spending what might turn out to be a non-refundable $18.95.
- Network Solutions and Enom : Both these companies recently created a subentity called NameJet.com. Search both the Pre-Release and Expiring lists for your domain name. Technically you should appear in the pre-release category with final date listed being the same as your expiration.
- MelbourneIT is one of the largest registrars out there, and resell their properties through AfterNIC. A general search on their site should show your property in the list.
- Register partners with SnapNames which is also a large domain auction block. You may need to watch your domain more carefully with a large entity like SnapNames since they have a great deal of subscribers.
However, if your domain is one which goes to an auction drop reseller, such as the list above, you will need to head over to their website and register ASAP! Once you become a regular buyer, you can now bid on the domain in question like anyone else, and chances are most of the time it will not cost you more than about $70. If some some reason it is a very hot domain, you can expect to pay whatever anyone else is willing to bid up to. However your name and bid will be kept secret and you don't have to worry about anyone finding out who won, especially if you opt to register the domain after winning with the privacy option. Your domain will probably be part of a pre-release or "in-house" auction, which is a way of saying that the original registrar is holding onto your property but changing the name of the registrant. Either way, your goal is to get on the bandwagon right away.
In any case, there is no doubt that your first step should be to contact the registrar first as they are the ones with the most power during the first 10-15 days. After that you need to get in touch with ICANN before your domain hits the auction block, and make sure you get a lock on it within 30 days. Rules and Regulations regarding domain names can be difficult at best, even knowing everything I have outlined above. Once again, if your domain is of great value to you, find a good lawyer/counsel right away. I might recommend trying FindLaw.com, but as always, lawyers will make a process which you have full rights to initiate yourself much more costly. Even if you are forced to buy your domain through auction or a drop pickup provider, your dispute process may enable you to get the domain for free, which might be an issue if you paid a great deal of money at auction.
First and foremost, watch your domains. If you have a true registered trademark, this might protect you in all events as the Uniform Domain Dispute Policy will protect copyright holders before scalpers. In any event, learn the auctioneers which hold your names and do falter in your quest to buy the names before they go out to the domain watcher lists.
Labels: deleted expiring domain, expiring domain, my domain deleted, my domain expiring
posted by Ed Muller at
10:16 AM
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