3 August 2009
Have you ever wondered who owns your Domain Name? Have you ever bothered to even investigate who owns your Domain Name? I have lived in two states and work in many others and I have run into this situation many times all over the globe.

The scenario is this;
A company decides it's high time to get a web site. they start shopping and decide to go with a company with great credentials and lots of sites in their portfolio. They sign a contract and believe they are off to the races. (You know, the race to the top of the ever changing Search Engines.)

The first meetings are arranged
You meet with the company on the design and concept you are looking for, and you go over possible domain names that are available. Your company name in the dot com world is available and your new found friend assures you they will acquire that name and build you a web site. The work begins. After a period of time, depending on the complexity of the project, the chosen web design firm turns out an excellent product and you are thrilled with the results.

Now comes the interesting part!
At some point in time things start to dwindle between yourself and your old friend Mr Web Designer. For whatever reason the relationship has soured, or you just want to explore your options and see what else can be gained from another well intentioned web site development firm. After much searching and many hours of research you find a new firm that promises to build on what you already have, but they need to get your Domain Name onto their server. You contact the first Mr Web Developer and request that their company allow your Domain Name to be transferred to your new designer. This is when all you-know-what breaks loose. What you didn't realize was the first Web Design company registered your Domain Name in their company name. In order to get it released they are holding this name hostage for some ludicrous amount of money. Since you have a pretty good placement in the search engines, and your company name is the Domain Name, you feel you have no other choice but to pay them off and get what should have been rightfully yours in the first place. What you don't realize is they have no rights to that name, even if they did initially purchase it in their company name.

You have options!
First, you can contact an attorney and have them served with papers. Unless they are totally brain dead they should know they don't have a chance of keeping that name and they will release it without a fight. They may decide to have you fight it out which could cost a small fortune, sometimes more than what they have requested for the name in the first place.

Another option is to contact the registrar directly. Some, but not all, will help in the mediation of Domain Name dispute resolutions. They all have access to the ICANN Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy which can guide you through the proper steps in retrieving your Domain Name.

BUT! the best option is to be forewarned. Make sure when you make the decision to have someone build your web site and they are purchasing your Domain Name that is is done in your company name, with you as one of the primary contacts for that Domain Name and that you have the full rights to that name.

I have run into some very unscrupulous individuals out there, and some of my clients have had to spend a lot of money defending or retrieving their Domain Names, and I would hope that anyone reading this article will take heed and make sure they own their Domain Name.

Happy Interneting

Jim