Which registrars do you prefer? While the proliferation of TLD players following NetSol's demise as a monopoly has been nothing less than spectacular, potential registrants of new domain names have that much more to be wary of--e.g., the Dollar Domain pull (mentioned then neatly explained elsewhere in this forum) where that $1.00 is basically consideration for a promise to pay a $35 second-year (at the very least) fee.

Anyway...Which registrars would you recommend (assuming, of course, that I'm not an in-law)? Thanks.

I think any openSRS registrar is good. NO NETSOL!! NO NETSOL!!!

LOL @ Dynasty!

Here's my list of preferred registrars :

http://joker.com
http://www.weblaunching.net
http://www.registerclub.com
http://www.totalnic.net

I need to get my domain name back BC.. help me.. helppp mee


Is there any good domain lawyers around?..

Eureekkaaa!! .. how about http://www.domainlawyers.com ?? eh?
let me register it..


also.. http://jumpdomain.com is good

Dynasty

NetSol's improved, you know: My most recent modification went through on only the second try, just last week...then again, I submitted it in 1998.

Thanks. I just took a glance at the OpenSRS Registration Agreement--seems OK: no worse than most I've seen, and certainly better than some. Now with OpenSRS pricing, and a Reg Agreement from, say, Domain Discover...wishful thinking, I suppose.

BC: I'll look into your picks. Thanks.

approx US$11/year, great contract.

With the increase in registrars, findign one has become much like finding a proper host. You have to find one with honest advertising, good service, and reasonable features. Just as there are many hosts to avoid, there are registrars to avoid also.

A few have been mentioned for misleading advertising, really cheap ($1- $8) first year registrations and high cost (c $35) second year renewals. They are certainly no bargains.

I know one with poor service, alldns.com I have one domain with them I will move over to the registrar I use (and am very happy with), 000domains.com The whole system at alldns was inadequate when I used it. You could lose a domain waiting to get confirmation from them. They just weren't prepared to handle this important function properly or expediently.

I also use 000domains.com and have nothing but nice things to say about them.
Transfered my original domain from NETSOL now all 12 are tucked in one simple to use account.


Stan

domainlawyers.com is owned by a woman with a Vietnamese-sounding, er, I mean Chinese-sounding, surname (Ng) in the United Arab Emirates. Hey, it's a wacky world.

I think my domain name works pretty well, though. I also own domainnamecounsel.com, but that one's a little too long.

[Edited by iBusinessLawyer on 09-29-2000 at 09:18 AM]

Ng is a chinese last name :)

I'd like to second Dynasty on Jumpdomain.com

I have registered around 7 domains with them, so far, no problems :)

-easy to register.
-easy to manage.
-no fees to change ownership ;)

My vote is for http://www.dotster.com

Regardless of the one you choose, my recommendation is to choose just one. Nothing is worse than to have a client come and say can you move my domain and you're thinking, did I use joker.com or register.com on that one....hmmmmm

Pick one and stay with them.

I've been using 000domains.com and am very happy with it. Just watch out for any that charge less then $10 per year or so. If it sounds too good to be true...

000domains.com get my vote too.

Beware of namebargain.com, as well as some funny terms and condition, there is currently no control panel.

OpenSRS gets my vote. They cost $10 per domain/year wholesale. What that means is you have to at least need to transfer over 10 domains for it to make sense.

IT also gives the opportunity to resell the domains ie they provide a nifty client which would allow people to register for domains on your web site

also their service is excellent!

David

Another vote with 000domains.com. I have 5 domains that I have registered there. It works great and is easy to administer multiple domains.

In looking over some of the Registration Agreements and other information on some of the cited registrars’ sites,
I find the issue of domain name ownership compelling, if only for the inconsistency displayed among the various registrars in reply to the question: When I register and pay for a domain name, do I own it? Here are a couple of answers representative of the contrasting views by the many registrars:

000Domains answers plainly:

Do I own the domain I register?

Absolutely. It is yours to sell, keep, do whatever you like.


OpenSRS, on the other hand, sees it this way (in their End User FAQ):

Who does a registered name actually belong to, the end user or the Registration Service Provider?

Domain names are not truly owned -- they're leased out on a first-come, first-served basis, and remain with the initial lessee until either a) the lessee does not renew the name, or b) a business with a trademark of the same name demonstrates a greater claim to the name than the lessee can demonstrate.

(The last clause of the OpenSRS sentence is apparently directed to a Dispute Policy, which I’ll stay away from, not because of potentially far-reaching implications, but because I’m simply not sufficiently conversant in such matters.)

So who owns “your” domain name? Depends on your registrar, it seems.

Originally posted by tfc

000Domains answers plainly:

Do I own the domain I register?

Absolutely. It is yours to sell, keep, do whatever you like.


Obviously that really means nothing in reality. What you need to examine are both contracts that are agreed upon when a new domain is registered.

As far as my openSRS domains are concerned I can do anything with them. And OpenSRS has no say. I have a username and password. With that I have full control of the domain ie the ownership, the admin,tech information, the nameservers ... everything. Basically if someone bought my domain they would get my username and password ... change it, change the owner information and that's it ... nothing to it. ;)

IMHO the OpenSRS explanation is the correct explanation as to how domains work as opposed to the 000Domains which seems like a sales pitch.

later

David

David:

You're right about the OpenSRS Service Agreement for RSPs: It does in fact state that the administrative contact given at the time of registration is the owner of the domain name (in the RSP agreement itself; not necessarily in the agreement between the RSP and End User).

I could have chosen better examples (from the Agreements themselves and not a FAQ); those two are the ones that came to mind just before my last post, which was not meant to favor one registrar over another so much as to distinguish between the sorts of "hold" a registrant may have on a domain name.

Is it a significant distinction? It can be, yes.

Tom

[Edited by tfc on 09-29-2000 at 06:13 PM]

I do see where you are coming from

Basically the idea is to be careful which domain registrar you go with and be sure to read their contracts to see what you are getting into ;)

There was a website that actually ranked the different domain registrars contracts! (and netsol was pretty low) but the url slips my mind ;(

David

http://www.domainbbuyersguide.com/ great place to find the right registrar.

oops it's http://www.domainbuyersguide.com/

Originally posted by riffola
http://www.domainbuyersguide.com/ great place to find the right registrar. It's a place to find information on registrars, but personally I wouldn't say it's "a great place" to do so.

Biggest problem is that there are now 62 "accredited and operational" registrars according to the ICANN site, but domainbuyersguide.com lists only 25. That besides the fact that they do only rank ICANN-accredited registrars, and a lot of the registrars people might consider are Tucows (OpenSRS) resellers, or reselling for another accredited registrar.

Also, apparently they rely on registrars themselves to inform them when they change registration requirements or TOS, and as a result information on the site may be out of date. I've found out of date price information there in the past, mainly because they don't keep up with various specials the registrars might be running.

That said, there is some value to the site; the reviews of the limited number of registrars that they do have listed are useful, and the issues they raise provide a good tutorial on what to look for in a registrar.

It's a resource, but not a perfect one in my opinion.

[Edited by JayC on 09-30-2000 at 11:59 AM]

Another strike against NetSol.

I was speaking with a friend of mine in California todya. He's been wanting to get a domain regsitered with NetSol that expired June 26. He read something that said they aren;t going to be releasing expired domains, but auctioning them off instead.

I don't know if that's true. Anybody know anything more on the matter? If it is true, it's another strike against them (as if they needed any more).

I despise domain name scalpers.

Duster,

Have a quick fly-through down the forum, and you'll see a few topics (in particular by DynastyHost) about it. It is true, it does happen, and it's quite frankly ridiculous.

Yep, which means that if there's a domain that you have your eye on, about to expire, you might have a hard time getting it. Even if the current 'owner' doesn't want it. I wonder which is worse: contacting the current owner and trying to get it from them, or contacting NetSol and trying to get it from *them* - uhhhhhhh.

Contacting Netsol is probably futile

Contacting the current owner might yeild results ... at a price

later

David

Originally posted by Duster
Another strike against NetSol.

I was speaking with a friend of mine in California today. He's been wanting to get a domain registered with NetSol that expired June 26. He read something that said they aren’t going to be releasing expired domains, but auctioning them off instead.

I don't know if that's true. Anybody know anything more on the matter? If it is true, it's another strike against them (as if they needed any more).

I despise domain name scalpers.

It does indeed appear to be true. I was asked to respond to this issue in an article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. In my opinion, Network Solutions has been having trouble competing with newer registrars for new domains. By locking domains in their system, they can try to protect their market share.

In their view, I bet they are looking forward to making a lot of extra money off auctioning the domains (perhaps enough to compensate for lost revenue due to competition).

Best regards,
Frank Rietta

The sad part is on the long run that strategy will fail. Because even if people have to purchase the domains through the auction they will immediately tranfer them to lower cost registrars. Even existing domains can easily be transfered to cheaper registrars. So no matter what, they will still lose ... but they might be slowing it down a little :(

They should instead come up with more competitive pricing and improve thier customer services. But that makes too much sense ... they still think they are a monopoly

David