Who Owns Your Domain Name?
I’ve been encountering a growing number of clients who are having great difficulty getting control of their domain names from previous website developers. I suggest you all check who your domain is actually registered to. If it is not your name I suggest getting it changed. But be careful! If you are not tactful in getting the present “owner” to sign it over to you it could cost you big legal costs to get it back!
Problem
The domain name is registered in the developer’s name and when the shop owner decides they want someone else to do their website work the previous developer refuses to transfer the domain to them. In one case I was involved in the developer wanted big $$$ to release the domain – basically extortion.
If you forfeit or walk away from the domain name, it and the online reputation of your business can be sold to the highest bidder. Yes these domains have value on the open market. If the domain has been online for over a year it has gained a certain degree of traffic which has value. These domains are commonly sold to people ($50 to many thousands) who slap up a link website to take advantage of the traffic the domain generates. If you don’t want people looking for your website finding a link site advertising pornography or other garbage you need to get control and protect your domain.
In the eyes of the domain Registrar (eg. GoDaddy, Registrar.com, etc.) the person or company named as the domain’s registrant is the owner. So if the website developer enters their name as the registrant when they register (purchase) the domain they are technically the “owner”.
What they should be doing is registering you as the owner (Registrant) and themselves as the Technical Contact. They either don’t know what they are doing or it is a very intentional act.
There is a domain dispute resolution process but it is expensive and time consuming. Most of these trouble maker rely on the fact that most shop owners don’t want to spend $2k to $5k just to recover what is lawfully yours. They know they will lose the dispute, but since losing the dispute doesn’t cost them anything, financially or legally, they just ignore you.
Who is doing this?
The worst offenders are the big directory advertising companies, telephone companies, and Internet Service Providers. Some developers who are subcontracted by brand name auto industry chains are also very bad. If you got a ‘free’ domain name with your website it is highly likely it is not registered in your name.
Why do they do it?
Initially these developers are being helpful. In the end they are being lazy or just nasty.
Most times business owners signed up for these websites because it were a freebie that was thrown in with some other deal. Or the business owner wanted a website that was quick and easy to setup. The trouble is the people you deal with are essentially commission sales people. Beyond the initial sale they have no interest in helping you. Once they think your leaving (stop paying) they no longer want to speak to you or do anything for you. There is nothing in it for them so they can’t be bothered. And there is nothing in the domain control regulations that requires them to transfer the domain to you. It is up to you to prove that you are the rightful owner. The really bad ones may try to use the domain ownership issue as leverage to keep you as a client for as long as possible.
How Domain Registration Works
Each domain has three main contacts or individuals named on the registration. The Registrant Contact is the owner. The Administrative Contact manages the domain and has physical control of the domain. The Technical Contact can make or request technical setting changes for the domain. The person who has the password and email account on record for the administrative contact has overall control of the domain name.
What Control Should You Have
1) You MUST be registered as the owner of the domain (Registrant).
2) You SHOULD have Administrative control of the domain.
3) If you don’t want responsibility for managing your domain you can grant administrative control to another person. But there is some risk of losing your domain if you do not monitor what they are doing. The administrative password has ultimate control over the domain account. Technically the person with this password could change the owner’s name and claim it as theirs, sell your domain, or refuse to renew it so it goes into default and you loose it for non-payment. A common scenario is the disgruntled employee who changes the administrative password just before they quit and then denies any knowledge of it. It is a BIG hassle to get control of a domain where you do not have control of the email address that is registered to the domain. If it happens just before the domain is due for renewal there is a high risk of loosing the domain when it is put back on the open market for sale..
What Can You Do?
At a minimum you should be registered as the owner. If not, you need to get that changed. You should also get control over the domain.
My suggestions:
1) check the WHOIS record on your domain to see who is the registered owner. All domain registrars have a WHOIS search feature. You enter your domain name and WHOIS displays the public record for the domain.
2) If your not the Registrant Contact you need to get that changed (see cautions on doing this below!),
3) transfer the domain to a domain registrar of your choice and control,
4) make yourself the Registrant Contact and use an administrative password so only you and someone you trust (your lawyer?) know it (if you lose or forget this password your in big trouble). Use an Registrant Contact email address that ONLY you have access to. This is vital! If someone else can get into this email account they can change your administrative password, approve the change, and steal the domain name.
5) assign your web developer as your Technical Contact so they can do what they need to do but do not have control over the domain ownership. Some domain management controls do not allow for separate contact logins. This is where the secure email address provides a degree of protection, AND monitoring this email account regularly, is so essential! If you have to give your web developer your Administrative password at least you will be notified if they try to do anything with the domain and you can stop it.
6) Your domain name is very valuable and grows more so over time. Treat it like a valuable asset.
Caution – How To Get Them To Cooperate
It is in your best interests to use a very calm, pleasant, tactful approach in getting control of your domain. I can’t emphasize this enough! The objective is to get them to freely cooperate. It will cost you lots to force them to do it!
1. Don’t tell them your building a new website!
2. Don’t tell them their service sucks and your taking your business elsewhere!
3. Do tell them your “lawyer” advised you your domain was a valuable asset and that it would be best if you take over management of your domain name.
4. Explain you DON’T want to cancel the website. Only transfer the domain. First reason is that you don’t want to raise their suspicions and have them refuse to help you; and second, if you are planning to build a new website you want to keep the old website operating until you are ready to switch so you don’t loose all the SEO value you have build up for your domain name. Many have had their website accounts immediately cancelled and the domains SEO is seriously damaged and the have no website until the domain dispute is settled often many months later.
5. Explain you just want to TRANSFER the domain to yourself. This way they should be willing to take the 5 minutes it takes to approve the transfer if they think you will remain a paying customer. (Get a domain registrar account and read up on how to transfer a domain. Or get a trusted website developer to do it for you. Most transfers take 5-7 business days.)
Fighting Back
If they give you a hard time or refuse to cooperate you can try the following. Try to maintain a pleasant, non-threatening tone. They have the upper hand and there is nothing to be gained from antaganizing them:
1. Explain that you have used the domain for a length of time now, and so it now falls under trademark law, and you are fully untitled to ownership of it. If that’s not enough…
2. Explain that there is an International Domain Registration dispute resolution process through the domain registrar, but you would rather not get lawyers involved and all the cost both in dollars and bad press for their company. The dispute is posted online in a worldwide registrar. Sort of like a court record. Would be a shame to have their company listed there. Also that domain registrars don’t like customers (them) who don’t play by the rules and cause problems, and it would be a shame it you had to file a complaint against them with the registrar. If that’s not enough…
3. Explain that it would be really bad for their reputation if your bad experiences dealing with them were written about and seen by tens of thousands of other shop owners who read the International Automotive Technicians Network IATN forum, the Automotive Management Network forum, Facebook and Twitter for a start… Social reputation is such a powerful thing these days and bad news travels fast… Also helps if you mention your going to cc all your postings to their boss and any other manager in the company and any company associated to them you can find! Almost all have OK’ed the domain transfer in a matter of hours when this one is used! If that’s not enough…
4. A few clients have had success with a strongly worded letter from their lawyer suggesting that they are in the wrong and should transfer the domain to you…
5. Worst case is to file request for a formal Domain ownership dispute resolution.
Good luck!
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