Namecheap TOS - PLEASE CLARIFY just what is meant by "OWNED," and if my submission is one giant spam list for my clients for email, snail mail, and telco solicitation.

QUOTE FROM NAMECHEAP TOS:

7. Ownership of Information and Data.

You agree and acknowledge that Namecheap owns all database, compilation, collective and similar rights, title and interests worldwide in our domain name database, and all information and derivative works generated from the domain name database. You further agree and acknowledge that we own the following information for those registrations for which we are the registrar: (a) the original creation date of the registration, (b) the expiration date of the registration, (c) the name, postal address, e-mail address, voice telephone number, and where available fax number of all contacts for the domain name registration, (d) any remarks concerning the registered domain name that appear or should appear in the WHOIS or similar database, and (e) any other information we generate or obtain in connection with the provision of domain name registration services, other than the domain name being registered, the IP addresses of the primary nameserver and any secondary nameservers for the domain name, and the corresponding names of those nameservers. Namecheap does not have any ownership interest in your specific personal registration information outside of its rights in our domain name database.

But do they have the right to sell our client's info, or?

Hello Watchdog. I think this statement in the the agreement makes it clear:

"Namecheap does not have any ownership interest in your specific personal registration information outside of its rights in our domain name database."


Let me assure you. NameCheap has never nor do we EVER plan to use any of our clients information for any purpose other than day to day registrar operations.

Thanks.

I'm paying a lot more attention to the TOS these days, and would like to ask questions NOW, instead of having surprises pop up later..

btw, thanks for your very prompt reply.

I apologize for being overly cautious, but I took a close look at the GODADDY TOS. They state that if you don't renew your domain, THEY have the option to do it for you, and bill you for it, based on the number of years that you originally signed up with them. This applies even if you click on the box "Manual Renewal."

If you signed up a client for 5 years and he goes out of business and you kill their account after 1 year, GODADDY can charge you for 5 more years when the name expires. Also, if you forgot to renew a domain, you can "REDEEM IT'' for $80.00. Their TOS seems contradictory in other areas.

Godaddy cancelled a client's domain name about a week ago on one of my boxes, because it was in an IP RANGE listed by SPEWS.ORG, and she signed up for a new account for one year. The domain was up for several days, and the customer received no warning.

Their "fraud department" has not gotten back to me after 7 days, and the client is SOL.

Watchdog,
I am a little unsure of your question. If you are asking about our re-billing policy, we do not automatically re-bill our clients.

Sorry, I was referring to GODADDY's "Domain Name Registration Agreement":

https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/legal_agreements/show_doc.asp?se=%2B&pageid=REG%5FSA


Domain Name Renewals

When You register a domain name, You have the option to elect that the domain name be automatically renewed upon reaching the expiration date. If You elect the automatic renewal option, Go Daddy will automatically renew, for a period equivalent to the length of your original registration, any domain name that is up for renewal and will take payment from the Payment Method You have on file with Go Daddy , at Go Daddy 's then current rates. Thus, if you have chosen to register your domain name for one year, Go Daddy will automatically renew it for one year. If you have chosen to register your domain name for two years, Go Daddy will automatically renew it for two years, and so on. Domain name renewals will be non refundable. If for any reason Go Daddy is not able to take the payment from the Payment Method You have on file, and You fail to respond to our notices, Your domain name registration will expire. It is Your responsibility to keep Your Payment Method information current, which includes the expiration date if you are using a credit card. If You do not elect that the domain name be automatically renewed, You have the responsibility of logging into Your account manager for that domain name and manually implementing the renewal by the expiration date (should You in fact want the domain name to be renewed). In this case, if You fail to manually implement the renewal in a timely fashion the domain name will be cancelled and You will no longer have use of that name. You agree that Go Daddy will not be responsible for cancelled domain names that You fail to renew, either automatically or manually. In any case, if You fail to renew Your domain name in a timely fashion, additional charges may apply. If You signed up for domain masking, domain forwarding, or any other similar service, with Your domain registration, these services may be automatically renewed when Your domain registration is up for renewal, and You may incur an additional renewal fee unless You cancel in advance.
If you fail to renew your domain name, you agree that Go Daddy may, at its sole discretion, renew your expired domain name on your behalf. If Go Daddy decides to renew your expired domain name on your behalf you will have a Renewal Grace Period during which you may reimburse Go Daddy for the renewal and keep your domain name. The Renewal Grace Period is currently 30 days but subject to change under the terms of Section 2 of this Agreement.

If you do not reimburse Go Daddy for the renewal during the Renewal Grace Period your domain name will be placed on Hold and flagged for deletion after which you will have a 30 day Redemption Grace Period during which you may pay Go Daddy a Redemption fee and redeem your domain name. The Redemption fee is currently $80 USD and is subject to change under the terms of Section 2 of this agreement.



This confuses me a bit. It seems to say that you can let a domain name expire, but that GODADDY can renew it at THEIR option.

Also, they mention an $80.00 "REDEMPTION FEE" if you forget to renew, and want to buy your domain name back.

This is why I read before I buy.

Avoid godaddy, easy solution. And to think.... they are advertising in 2 days on the superbowl, *braces for horror stories*

Originally posted by kohashi
Avoid godaddy, easy solution. And to think.... they are advertising in 2 days on the superbowl, *braces for horror stories*

heck I agree, throw in avoid namecheap as well.

okie

To be fair, this clause is an almost exact copy of what can be found over at eNom for which NameCheap resells:

OWNERSHIP OF INFORMATION AND DATA: You agree and acknowledge that we own all database, compilation, collective and similar rights, title and interests worldwide in our domain name database, and all information and derivative works generated from the domain name database. You further agree and acknowledge that we own the following information for those registrations for which we are the registrar: (a) the original creation date of the registration, (b) the expiration date of the registration, (c) the name, postal address, e-mail address, voice telephone number, and where available fax number of all contacts for the domain name registration, (d) any remarks concerning the registered domain name that appear or should appear in the WHOIS or similar database, and (e) any other information we generate or obtain in connection with the provision of domain name registration services, other than the domain name being registered, the IP addresses of the primary nameserver and any secondary nameservers for the domain name, and the corresponding names of those nameservers. We do not have any ownership interest in your specific personal registration information outside of its rights in our domain name database.

Source: http://www.enom.com/terms/agreement.asp
And most registrars (incl. eNom and GoDaddy) claim ownership of their whois databases so as to deter spammers from mining them.

Originally posted by okieboy
heck I agree, throw in avoid namecheap as well.

okie

Why avoid name cheap? They've been great with me besides one problem, which ended up bein paypal's fault.

godaddy is no 1 registrar online for providing the best domain features.

Originally posted by watchdog

This confuses me a bit. It seems to say that you can let a domain name expire, but that GODADDY can renew it at THEIR option.

Also, they mention an $80.00 "REDEMPTION FEE" if you forget to renew, and want to buy your domain name back.

This is why I read before I buy.

Namecheap does this too. Redemption is ubiquitus across all registrars that I know of... if you don't renew your domain the registrar pumps it into redemption just in case you forgot. I know namecheap does this because I know enom does this (right now a few of my client's domains are in redeption).

As for the price they charge, I'm not positive... but I know enom charges me as a reseller $200 to grab a name out of redemption (note that a part of this fee, either to enom, namecheap, or godaddy, does go to netsol, though I'm not sure how much).

So if this is what's setting you off, I recommend staying away from domains, because any registrar or reseller is going to do exactly the same thing.

Originally posted by okieboy
heck I agree, throw in avoid namecheap as well.

okie

i would say for SURE to avoid blowdaddy

now as for namecheap, i say their service and speed is EXCELLENT. their interface is EASY to use (unlike rf - ugh).

i dont know how anyone here could have a problem with namecheap.

theyve been taking good care of lauren! and as we all know, thats a feat not easily accomplished ;)

I purposely want the domain to expire, and I don't want to be billed for a renewal period equal to the original 5 yr period the customer signed up for, per the registrar's TOS. Case in point: I registered a domain for a tree service. The guy was hurt in an accident, and cancelled his account after only 1 yr of a domain registration paid up for five years in advance.

I notified the Registrar to cancel renewing the name, but the registrar replied that I would have to remind them 60 days prior to the renewal date, or about 3-1/2 yrs from now. I hope I can remember.

The point here is I WANT the name to expire, without any liability against my reseller account.

You are not required to pay the redemption fee at GoDaddy or any other registrar.