HELP PLEASE with a Legal internet DOMAIN issue

[Fickle-Friend]

I'm in a bit of a situation. Last year I set up an internet site. I decided to get some asistance from someone I didnt know too well. Anyway he agreed and I paid him a fee to buy a domain name. He bought one and put it under my name and put one under his. We both worked on making the site. Then last month (about a year later) he demanded I pay him an amount for his time and trouble. He informed me he didnt want anything to do with the site and moved on. I was told I had 10 days and then the site would be terminated from the domain. So i promptly paid up and asked to be left in peace.

Anyway today I found out that my site has a registrars lock and has no information on me. I then emailed him and he asked what was up as its up for renewal soon and also I want to put in my new address. His reply was to email him my new details and he would do it for me. I told him that it feels like your still running the site and im but a pawn. Can anyone help me out there? i'm really worried. I've spent a lot of time, effort and money on my site already.

 

[Fickle-Friend]

Also i got this just now, is this true??

Quote "Status: REGISTRARS LOCK also means your domain is locked and can't be moved
to another DNS server.... I told you if you want to move it fine, give me
the new DNS server details and it'll be done in the click of a mouse..."

If this is the case should i just change DNS server?

 

[ls20]

the dns server is that of the company hosting your website... or your pc, should you be hosting the site from your pc...

you can change hosts / "dns" servers... but the website will still be associated with the old dns... so whenever people look up yourwebsite.com, they'll be directed to the old DNS server...

 

[AlanY]

It's rather difficult to understand what's happening from your description, but it sounds like you don't understand that there are two separate things at work here.

When you create a website at a particular domain, you pay for two things:
1) the domain name registration with a registrar
2) server infrastructure to host the files (this includes DNS).

It sounds like the other guy registered the domain name with his own name and contact information. Then, when it came up for annual renewal, he decided he no longer wanted to pay the annual registration fees, so he asked for money from you. Because the domain registrar has his contact information, only he can make changes to it -- this is why it is "locked" to you.

If you want to keep your website up, you need to:
1) select a new hosting service to host the domain
2) contact the hosting service to set up an account
3) the hosting service will give you the new server's DNS address
4) you tell the other guy what the new DNS address is
5) the other guy will update the DNS information with the registrar.

Once you do all that, the domain will now run off the hosting service you selected, and your website will stay up.

Now, there is one other, separate, longer-term issue: you will, at some point, want the actual domain registration transferred over to you. Hopefully he'll agree to do this, then it will be easy. He needs to file some forms with his registrar. However, if he decides that he really likes owning the domain name, he may not agree to do this. In that case, you would have two options: 1) choosing a new domain name, or 2) trying to get it through some legal means. #2 is probably a long shot, but since you paid him to register the domain name, there might have been some implied contract that a good lawyer could make a case about. If you have to go the legal route, it will probably cost $10,000 or more, since lawyers are not cheap. You should try to resolve this on your own, in civil terms, if at all possible.

 

[Fickle-Friend]

The site has my details as administrative contact and his as technical contact. The registrant details are mine too. But I've contacted the registration service provider and they wouldnt help me without membership details..etc. Where do i legally stand here? I am the registrant but without any membership details.

 

[AlanY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fickle-Friend The site has my details as administrative contact and his as technical contact. The registrant details are mine too. But I've contacted the registration service provider and they wouldnt help me without membership details..etc. Where do i legally stand here? I am the registrant but without any membership details.

So he's only listed as the technical contact? In that case, you're the rightful owner of the domain and you should be able to have him removed as technical contact. You should do this first, since your contract with the registrar may specify that only the technical contact can change things like the DNS entry.

Your best bet is to send a registered letter (*not* an email, not a phone call) to your domain registrar stating that you are the owner of this domain and you want the other person removed as the technical contact, and you want them to issue you a new password and login for accessing their online management tools. It is very important that you send them a registered letter, so there is a verifiable paper trail in case something goes wrong and the domain gets lost. The registrar may ask you to send them notarized copies of your ID (driver's license, passport, etc.) to authenticate your identity before changing anything. That's fine -- give them the information they ask for.

 

[Fickle-Friend]

Alan thank you so much for your help. This issue has really been stressing me out! Your help has been invaluable!

 

[morphie]

Just download the whole website into a folder, buy a new domain name and a new account with some space, and upload everything to it. Why didnt you pay a professional to do it for you? It's not very expensive. In any case, I suggest you email the current website host, explain the situation, and ask them to terminate the account, or at least delete your files from it.

If you do so make sure you've backed up everything. If you search around the net I'm sure you'll find a cheap web designer willing to upload and configure the website on your new account, then you change the main password and youre done.