I agree that scenario would be a very nice (and the checking very wise) thing to do. Let's leave it like that
I'd like to say that I don't think this situation is morally wrong because of the guy's situation, I think it would be wrong no matter what. Even if the guy was living fine, and the business was just for extra money, it still wouldn't be right for someone to snatch the domain. I think people who do this are... bad.
What I don't get is how anyone could let their domain expire if the domain was actually in use? It goes through the whole cycle of inactive, redemption period, etc. So for at least 60 days his domain would not have worked (no DNS resolution for anyone) where he could have renewed it. How important of a business could it be if 1. you don't visit your own site for months on end, and 2. none of your customers tell you that your site doesn't work.
Interesting thread, analogies abound. It would seem more like picking up a $20 note in a crowd rather than seeing it drop from someones pocket in front. Ever found money in the street Kaabi? If so what did you do with it? Domains drop every day for various reasons. Emails change, people die, etc, etc. Can one just say "business is business"? Supposing it was Poker.com? An interesting conundrum.
Just a couple of comments. I think Brady uses the vb in vbwebsites because "Virginia Beach" has had a claim to the vb initials longer than any internet software has. And Mike, "you snooze you lose" - is this a new, tough Mike we've got? Paperwork slip ups happen to the best of us .... But I have to agree with Shawn about the redemption cycle thing - that side of it is very odd. Do the nameservers shut off at the same time? Has GoDaddy stuffed up by not killing the nameservers when it should have?
The root level name servers stop working long before it even goes through the redemption cycle (usually at least a month of being inactive before the redemption cycle starts). I have first hand knowledge of this because 2 years ago, I forgot to renew digitalpoint.com (heh), but within 30 minutes of it expiring, I started receiving calls from all over the world (people trying to get to the site) letting me know my domain expired. Oops.
I thought you answered "only one" to a how-many-domains-do-you-own thread a while back. Come on Shawn, how difficult is it to remember one?
Omg, I forgot about that, You are right, They do stop( or switch) your dns like 30 days before the drop, Hmmm...U think I may have to change my position thinking about that now.. I do feel bad but............
The owner didn't forget to renew it, he wasn't in charge of it, someone else was. I'm sure there is a completely logical explanation as to why the domain expiring wasn't noticed.
I feel sorry for the guy... it does suck to loose your domain. Regardless of who's responsible for the domain renewals, if you don't visit your own domain for months at a time, how important is it *really* to you? In my case, I'm responsible for the domain renewal of digitalpoint.com, and I even got a domain renewal notice. I just got busy and totally forgot about it. But I knew pretty quick (within hours) of it expiring because the domain didn't work anymore. I would have had at least 60 days of digitalpoint.com not working before it was actually available for someone else to register. So it's not like the site was working one day, and then the next day it was mysteriously owned by someone else. Years ago (5+ years) that could have been the case. In fact, I got digitalpoint.com because someone forgot to renew their registration (we were data-point.com before). I would have felt bad if they were actually using the domain for something (it was just parked and they were trying to sell it I think). But the way the domain renewal system works (with the redemption period and all that), you really would need to actually not be using the domain for you to actually loose it. DNS resolution not working means the site wouldn't work, email wouldn't work, etc, etc... for at least 60 days.
I understand what you are saying but again... if you lose it then you lose it. too bad so sad I have lost some good ones and I write them off. One I even repurchased for 1500$ =( Its the way it goes. I just dont want to see people confused thinking that this is somehow against the law since it is in the "legal" forum
i have to agree with the you snooze you lose comment no matter who you are or what your site is you still have to renew your domain names.. if you dont pay rent on your house for 2 months.. someone else will move in... even if you were running microsoft from your bedroom you cant just go up to new paying tenants and say "oh sorry i forgot to pay my rent for 2 months and found myself homeless.. umm just remove all your stuff and ill move back in" if the new owner didnt grab it.. 100s of others would have after him just the way it goes
I conceded a bit on the domain name snatch issue, and was ready to leave this thread, but I just have to comment on your house analogy. The law for renters varies from state to state, but I'd say that physical property renters actually have more rights to latch onto a property than domain owners do, so your analogy is flawed. Here's a step-by-step typical process of evicting someone for not paying rent. nolo.com After giving a renter notice, you still can get tied up in court proving the person should be kicked out. Then for an example of a little more bizarre situation, check out this story: RIGHTFUL EVICTION? A tale of two dwellings, two families in Bernal Heights Try imagining what that same situation would be like in the internet world. Instead of your mock quote "oh sorry i forgot to pay my rent for 2 months and found myself homeless.. umm just remove all your stuff and ill move back in" - it would instead be "oh sorry I'll keep paying my rent even though you just bought the place and no matter how antagonistic I am, you can't kick me out"
So Shawn, how come today on Digg I see that diggnation.com was forgotten to be renewed and a Digg members snatched it up within hours? Like you said, surely if there indeed is this redemption period, someone would have seen this earlier? http://digg.com/tech_news/Diggnation_didn_t_renew_their_domain._Oops! Seems like the system might not be working correctly to me... Our .co.uk domains here can not change hands untill the owner has agreed to let it go. 'Loosing' or 'snatching' a domain is impossible like that.
What I don't like is the guilt tripping. If you don't have the domain, don't own a trademark on it, there is little you can do. The whole "they really owe me the name back" attitude won't work. Domain dealers don't go for that. But if you contact them and show willingness to work with them, offer something instead of pushing them against the wall and saying "how can you live with yourself?", you might as well write the domain name off and move on to rebranding your business. Just my 2 cents.
I think that its perfectly fair that the new owner is trying to sell it. It only takes a few clicks of the mouse to renew a domain, and if the owner cannot do that, he in a way deserves to lose it. It is now the new owners domain and I think he has all the right to resell it.
Is there any way that we, the digitalpoint community, could get in touch with the owner; buy the domain back and give it to the guy who lost it? I'll kick in a few $$