I have mysurname.com. I also had mysurname.net. Unfortunately when I renewed the latter something went wrong and it wasn't renewed duly. It went into redemption and I waited for it to get deleted to get it back. But someone else got it, I didn't know that there were people registering most expired domains, even one like 'mine' that was just parked. I won't go into more details as I don't think they are of interest to you guys, I can if you want, but I just want to ask you if there's a chance to get it back, even at the end of the year of registration, if the new owners have nothing to do with my surname. Any opinions?
I think aside for purchasing the domain from the new owner you are out of luck. When it "wasn't renewed duly" it became fair game for anyone to purchase and unfortunately someone snagged it before you.
Thanks but, please note that we are talking about a surname.net not a commonword.net. In other words my competition should be members of my family or others with my surname. It was taken by someone just to use it as a second hand domain. It's not the end of the world if I don't get it, but I want to explore the situation.
It doesn't really matter what the domain name is. Since it expired it becomes up for grabs to the first taker. Unless you want to take the owner to court citing they are infringing on a trademark or copyright and purchased the domain only to be a squatter I think you are out of luck.
Although I won't say that I have very special rights to get back that domain just because it's my surname, I still would reasonably think that I probably have more rights than a cybersquatter. I don't even want to have it back now, I would be happy it was left available for me to register at the end of the paid period of registration. VIPs can get it back, why shouldn't I? Or is the solution to become a VIP and claim it back?
No you don't. You're probably not the only with that surname. Even I have as much right to that domain as you do.
I agree. Still, more than a cybersquatter. I should compete with people who have that same surname, and the others free to register their own surnames, not mine! Don't you agree? What if I was to register YOUR surname, and you wanted it? Don't you think you should have more rights?
No. You don't, end of story. No because the fact is, you don't have any more right to it than any of us including spammers/cybersquatters or low life bums. Tough shit for me. Your fair right to do so. No since that would create a crazy situation with all the other people with the same surname. If all the Smith's had more right to smith.com than all the Jones' you're still far off a solution. Your reasoning is wrong. Forget about it, the domain isn't yours anymore and you don't have a leg to stand on in terms of claiming it back.
Ok, no need to get upset. But I'll look in to it further and see what the regulations say about it. Also, I might want to see why my registrar did not release it to the new one I was transfering to. Thanks to everybody.
It would be different if it was a trademark. I missed out on mylastname.com by a few days. I looked one day and it was there, than a few days later it got sucked up by yourlastname.com - pay $200 a year for email at your last name. Rat bastards. Oh well. I got the .net and I'm sure I'll get it back when they are gone. My family tree is pretty slim - there's less than 50 of us here in the States, so I doubt they'll ever get any subscribers.
Are you talking about Network Solutions' VIP program? If so then you are incorrect, a VIP has no advantage over a regular person in this case. They cannot simply take a domain that somebody else has purchased.
nevetS, I might get it back if they drop it by backordering it with some heavy players, and it might be even easier for you given how they are using it. Unfortunately some companies just buy these domains because they are preowned. Mine had zero trafic, it was just parked on a page with little use and I think never visited by anyone. Still, it was caught in their automatic snapdomains scripts or whatever. And mine was a .net, not even a .com. Anyway good luck to you, and use the best BO services! tflight, not really, I didn't know about that program. Still, you hear about VIPs getting there domains back, I can't recall many, but for instance Julia Roberts got hers, but do you remember the Giorgio Armani case? I think he got it from another Giorgio Armani who registered it first and had the same name and surname. That's why I wonder whether I have some rights. I'm not just annoyed and frustrated, actually I am happy with my domain.com. Still it's interesting to know more about these cases. Thanks
The person who originally purchased the domain name was Anand Ramnath Mani (A.R. Mani). Here is the reason citied for the verdict in that case. You can read the full exerpt here.
The brings one point that people need to remember. Just because a domain is in redemption, it doesn't mean that you can't renew it. You need to pay extra to move it out of redemption, but if it's a name you want to keep then do it. Otherwise you risk loosing the domain. Any cost of getting a domain out of redemption will be cheaper than going through the courts (or ICANN) to try and get the domain back. If someone (company or not) allows a domain name to move from registered -> awaiting renewal -> redemption -> awaiting deletion -> deleted, then I'm almost 100% sure that a lawyer type person would have little difficulty in showing that you no longer wanted the domain. Ignorance should never be used as an excuse :- in this case you weren't ignorant of what was going on, but by allowing the domain to expire you showed that you no longer required the domain and thus it is fair game for anyone to re-register said domain. If your registrar tells you that you can't get a domain back that has entered redemption period then they are lying.
Good points, jlawrence. I'd also add to that in this case the uca hinted he was trying to move the domain to a new registrar but the originating registrar didn't release it before the domain expired. I've seen this happen before to people. I'd never try to move registrars on a domain with less than 30 days before the expiration date to be sure it was moved to the new registrar prior to expiration. For good reason registrars make it difficult to switch registrars (to help prevent domain hijacking, etc.). Following all of the correct procedures and jumping through all of the hoops can be difficult. When in doubt pay the registry fee with the current registrar before moving the domain to a new registrar. Worst case scenario is you pay another year on your domain.
tflight, first of all, maybe that case (A.R.Mani) isn't the one I vaguely remmeber about, maybe it was another stylist or VIP, but it was someone doing a completely different job but with exactly the same name that registered the domain first but had to hand it over. I'll bring it up if I find something about it. jlawrence, those are very good points. Unfortunately at the time I knew little, it's not an excuse, it's just the plain truth. I now know to transfer well ahead of the renewal date. I now know that you can renew it even a lot later that the exact renewal date. I now know to check the renewal/transfer procedure through. I now know that there are companies interested in expired .net domains with no traffic at all, and not just .coms. I guess I am here to learn! I also hope that others can learn from this too. Still, again to learn, I am going to try and get it if it's not renewed, which is likely in theory, through BO services. I was an unfortunate victim of ignorance and unlucky circumstances, but I'm happy it didn't happen with my .com domain! Thanks guys.