I have asked a few questions in here the last two days, but this is one I'm very curious about--does hosting companies have the right to hold your domain from you for any particular reason or cancel / delete it? I'd imagine the domains is yours as long as your paying for it, legally its yours?
Some people believe they don't, while others do. But the answer lies in your agreement with the provider you're doing business with, as it spells out what both you and they can and can't do. It so happens the provider's agreement puts them in a stronger position. Just as they don't necessarily have "absolute rights" over it, neither do you.
Perhaps there should be more discussion on this board and elsewhere about which companies provide the best protection for consumers and which ones have a history of taking away domain names. Most of the agreements are too long and full of legal mumbo jumbo for the average layman to fully understand.
I seriously don't see how someone could hold you domain. That's pretty screwed u I was reading in the ICANN that the registrar has a max. of 5 days to turn over your domain and its legally yours.
It's a matter of trying to know and understand how it works, especially if you read your agreement. Here's one way to see it: I lease you a room of my apartment building for one year. You don't renew it after a year, but you didn't take your things out. As the apartment owner, I have the right to toss your things out the door and rent it to someone else. You may complain about it, but you don't have any more rights since you didn't renew your lease. Or let's say six months in your lease, I inspect your apartment while you're off and I found drugs. Part of your rental agreement says no drugs allowed or I'll kick you out, so I toss your things out. (or rather call the cops...) The thing here to understand is you don't have an absolute right over any and all domain names you register. Your rights towards them are defined by your provider's registration agreement, coupled with whatever limited "rights" that ICANN might allow. I'll tell you this: as long as you consistently pay for the domain name, coupled with complying with your provider's terms as much as you can, then you might be fine for the most part and your chances of losing the domain name are nil. Everything we sought to buy and possess carries a degree of responsibility we might be held accountable to uphold.
David, I actually just got off the phone with the domain transfer division over at ICANN because I e-mailed them to ask about it and they called me. They told me that as long as the domain is registered to me and I make the payments the domains are strictly mine. They said they have no reason what so ever to hold them, they said the only reason that they can hold them is if a payment has not been made or the domain registry has not been updated to the correct info.
Then you might want to ask someone else, because that's incomplete. If you recall the transfer policy, it states conditions when a transfer can be denied. While other conditions aren't mentioned there, the transfer policy doesn't say either what other conditions aren't allowed. I saw your other thread, though, so I'll reply there shortly.