Which forum should I post this to?

[CLBridges]

What forum would you guys suggest I post a question on how those "BUY/SELL DOMAIN" people get away with registering and then squatting on domain names asking outrageous dollars to buy them? I know there's the domain dispute policy (ICANN) but with them around, how can these guys stay in business? A friend of mine was told FIFTY THOUSAND to buy a domain??????

What the, WHAT THE???

[carju1]

Internet Industry forum is probably the most accurate for this question, but as 90% of regulars in the break room have educated opinions and aren't afraid to express them, then here's good as well :)

Julian

[CLBridges]

Internet Industry forum is probably the most accurate for this question, but as 90% of regulars in the break room have educated opinions and aren't afraid to express them, then here's good as well :)

Julian

(eyebrowing Julian) Yeah.. but, uh, I thought you guys were takin' a "break" from it all here.. hehe (like, "AS IF".. right?)

Well then, how DO you guys think they get away with this? Is it because many (if not most) buyers don't realize this policy exists? Or is the process to file a complaint just too difficult? Or could it be rigged somehow?

The domain in question is controlled by a (gulp) "registrar".. And when you try to access the domain, a whole website comes up for discountdomains.com even though the domain name remains in the address field. When making an inquiry as to the cost of buying the domain name, the page explains that the price will be no less than 688.00 (or something around there) but could cost up to 10,000.00, depending on it's value.

It's VALUE??? The ICANN policy specifically states that someone who registers a domain name just for the purpose of selling it for consideration in excess of documented out of pocket expenses is guilty of using the domain name in "bad faith".

It's one of the 3 elements that must be present to file a complaint. The other 2 are (1) that the domain name is identical or similar to the trademark or service mark (company name/identity) of the complaintant and (2)they don't have any rights to or legitimate interests in respect to the domain name.

It's downright appalling! How do they get away with it?? Has anyone here ever gone through one of these proceedings or known anyone who has? Is there anything that someone should be prepared for before filing a complaint?

[rocky1]

Hey CL,

Have no answers to any of the above for you, but I understand where you're at with this one. Received e-mail a short time back that www.rtfi.com, was for sale which would fit real nice alongside my www.rtfi.us site. However... they're asking Over $1500 for the Domain Name, and I've had it beat on every search engine I can find us both on, for as long as I been able to find me on one. Have been tempted to write the Domain holder and see if they'd take $50 for it. Tell them the @55hole in #1 is indestructable and they aren't going to get any more for it. Just to spin them up a little!

Will definitely keep an eye on the thread just to see if you find anything out here. I'd like to know too! I can't see spending $1500 on a Domain Name, that I could register for $20, when I already have it beat on the engines! Not sure what happened to the original company on that one, they were legitimate however.

Whoa!!! Just clicked on my link in this post and they have jacked the price to $2450 for rtfi.com now!

[ldyguique]

I've observed a similar practice with the smaller registrars who sell domains for cutrate prices or act as resellers. I've had customers who've signed up for their domain, developed a site, have all running along smoothly. Life is good. They go to renew it, and for one stall or another, it fails to renew in time. The register buys the domain at midnight of the expiration date -- and then offer to resell it at a much higher price than the renewal fee.

[Leisa]

I've observed a similar practice with the smaller registrars who sell domains for cutrate prices or act as resellers. I've had customers who've signed up for their domain, developed a site, have all running along smoothly. Life is good. They go to renew it, and for one stall or another, it fails to renew in time. The register buys the domain at midnight of the expiration date -- and then offer to resell it at a much higher price than the renewal fee.

Oh yeah, that's happened to me and it's bad news. A few years ago I lost a well developed site of mine in this manner. It still makes me mad when I think about it. That "filler" site is still sitting there on my old domain...the last marked copyright they have on it is 2001 so it's pretty obvious they don't care, it just sits. I watched my hard earned rankings drop, drop, drop...not that it mattered for me anymore. But, HA! I redeveloped it under a new name (supplierlocator.com) and badabing it's way better than before...They sucked my old name dry and they are left with nothing. I was lost when that name was torn out from under me. I made phone call after phone call and every answer I got was along the lines of "Oh, so sorry. Well, better luck next time." In my case the name dropped immediately upon expiration. I guess all you can really do is learn the very valuable lesson...Be Careful!

As far as asking price is concerned, I would think everyone is free to ask what price they want as in most buy/sell situations. I'm not saying they have a chance to get that price for it 99% of the time but I don't see how anyone can say "hey, you can't ask that much because I won't pay it". Don't get me wrong, it makes me mad too and it doesn't make sense. I mean, when you have a potential buyer knocking on your door, why would you send them away by being unbelievably greedy? On the other hand, there are a lot of fairly good domain names out there being offered for a very fair price.

[paulhiles]

Does anyone know anything about 'detagged domains'? I had been trying to get hold of a particular domain name for a while. The owner hadn't renewed the domain since 2002, there was no website present at any stage, but whenever I'd check it's availability I would just get the message informing me that it's detagged.

I've just gone to check it again after reading this thread and GODADDY has snapped it up! Aaaargh!! I don't believe it!! Are there companies out there that can put you on some sort of a waiting list for expired domains?

Paul

[Leisa]

I've just gone to check it again after reading this thread and GODADDY has snapped it up! Aaaargh!! I don't believe it!! Are there companies out there that can put you on some sort of a waiting list for expired domains?

Paul

You can go to http://netsol.com and backorder a domain for a fee.

[paulhiles]

You can go to http://netsol.com and backorder a domain for a fee.
Thanks for that Leisa, I've also just found a UK company (Detagged.co.uk) that offer a similar kind of service.

Thanks again for the speedy reply! ;-)

Paul

[ldyguique]

Here's a link (http://www.nominet.org.uk/RegisteringYourDomainName/DetaggedDomainNamesFaq/) on the issue of detagged domains:


What is a DETAGGED domain name?

A domain name that has been DETAGGED is no longer hosted on two valid name servers. This stops any services associated with the domain name, for example e-mail or a web site from working.

[paulhiles]

Thanks for that link ldyguique, I visited that page some while back, but I see they've recently changed their policy on cancelled domain names, and also those domains which have expired and where the registrant does not reply to any contact.

The whole process of securing a detagged name that's become available, is clearly a first come, first served scramble! I guess next time, I'll just bite the bullet and pay the fee for a backorder as Leisa suggested.

Paul

[CLBridges]

Are there companies out there that can put you on some sort of a waiting list for expired domains?

Paul

Lots and lots and lots of 'em! (Had to add that 3rd "lots" cuz it's really lots!)

Have you seen the ads that say "Reserve this Domain"?? Next time you do, click the link.. I did once and got a message that I couldn't do it because it was already "reserved". On checking a little further they said that they'd only allow one person (the first to request it) to reserve a name and what they'll do is register it for you when it becomes available (after you pay them for this extra service, of course!)

So many registrars are doing this nowadays, I'm certain they've got to be using some sort of software that queries the current registrars whois every couple of minutes or so. I just can't visualize someone with the job of hitting their refresh key every couple of seconds to check the status of a domain. (hehe)

Carrie**

[CLBridges]

A domain name that has been DETAGGED is no longer hosted on two valid name servers. This stops any services associated with the domain name, for example e-mail or a web site from working.

Is the domain record noted somehow as being "detagged" when you view it? I haven't really noticed anything recently, but I've seen domain name records with expiration dates that had come and gone, but the name servers were still listed in the record itself. Or is detagging an internal thing as far as the server is concerned?

Carrie**

[CLBridges]

Posting this topic here lets me know that most everyone has run into this one way or another, but does anyone know how ICANN and the Dispute Resolution Policy come in to play here??

Welp.. off to post the topic in the Internet Industry forum as Julian suggested and see if anyone has ever disputed a domain before.

(Why are my knees shaking?)

Carrie** :)

[carju1]

Welp.. off to post the topic in the Internet Industry forum as Julian suggested and see if anyone has ever disputed a domain before.

(Why are my knees shaking?)

Carrie** :)

Ok no mince pies for Carrie and she's on de-caf for a week :)

Julian

[greeneagle]

Try this site to determine value of any URL:
http://www.accuratedomains.com/
Ken