Several years ago, our ISP registered our domain name for us and registered themselves as admin and tech contacts. They are no longer in business and I need to transfer the ownership to our name. I am told by the domain registrar that an ownership change can only be made by the contact listed as registrant. Since this company is out of business and has no one for me to contact, how would I go about getting the change of ownership resolved.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

If you mean the now defunct ISP is listed not only as Admin Contact (email) but also REGISTRANT (name), then it would be VERY difficult to proceed, esp. when most registrars are not particularly helpful. IF you can show them some proof (like email or better still invoice) that demonstrates you have paid your ISP for that domain, it may be useful. Good luck.

Thanks for the response. They did register as "registrant","admin" and "tech" contacts. Unfortunately, this was done in 2001 so there are no records or anyone who is still around that would have access to this account. Is there no recourse in this kind of situation?

Check with the registrar to see what their process is to change registrant information if it is all out of date. Don't get into it with them about the domain, etc, just in general, ask what you would need to do. That might open up an avenue for you.

I did checked with the registrar and was told that, without the proper logon credentials, there was nothing that could be done. It's like running around in circles ....:confused:

I did checked with the registrar and was told that, without the proper logon credentials, there was nothing that could be done. It's like running around in circles ....:confused:
You may be in a pickle. How can you hope to prove you have a right to own it when your name is not on anything? Do you have a bill indicating that you ever paid for the domain registration? If so you may be abke to get the registrar to dislodge it for you. Otherwise I expect you're stuck until it lapses.

When I worked for a small ISP we were frequently the contact for everything, especially in the early, Internic/Verisign-dominated days when domain registrations were an enormous $100-a-year pain. Fortunately that ISP is still in business but I suspect most users rarely use the ISP as the go-between for administrative contact any more.

How much longer until the registration for the domain lapses? I'd probably just wait until it lapses as the legal wrangling involved may end up being pointless anyway.

How much longer until the registration for the domain lapses? I'd probably just wait until it lapses as the legal wrangling involved may end up being pointless anyway.

Just to point out that this would leave your domain open for speculation and you may find it registered out from under you.

If this, however, is some secondary, seldom-used domain, it may be a worthwhile approach. Nonetheless I'd still explore all options with the registrar.

Who is the registrar anyhow?

I did checked with the registrar and was told that, without the proper logon credentials, there was nothing that could be done. It's like running around in circles ....:confused:


So what do they do when someone doesn't have their login info? They must verify it somehow, and if the info is out of date, there must be yet another step, probably involving a fax, perhaps letterhead, etc. If the registrar does not have a process like this, please let me know which one it is as I'd like to avoid it.

How much longer until the registration for the domain lapses? I'd probably just wait until it lapses ...
I would strongly recommend AGAINST that. These days, *ANY* domain name will be picked up by more than a couple of domain tasters; worst still, that domain could well be lost FOR GOOD.

Unfortunately I'm not optimistic about this. This is one of the most common issues I've dealt with back in my registrar days.

They prepared a transfer solution for a reseller's end user if they themselves are listed on the domain name's registration record. Last I checked with them, they still haven't been able to create a feasible one addressing this specific matter.

Depending on the registrar involved, they might or might not help you. Worse comes to worse, it'll take a UDRP worth at least $1,200 to possibly get it, and that's if you even meet all the UDRP's requirements.

Is there really no way to somehow contact whoever manned the ISP that time?

Greetings!

The best option is to do all things possible to contact the ISP.
Did you do a whois on your domain? What email address is registered with the domain contact? If it is the ISP's official email, then bad luck. That's why it is sometimes advisable to use yahoo or gmail accounts for domain contact info. How about phone numbers (cell phone perhaps?)

You may also ask around for traces of whereabouts of the ISP contact person. You may also try the phone directory? Well, if they still have the login details, that will be great. But, I doubt it they have. And I don't think their email address still works. Sorry for being negative.

Your last option is to use snapnames or other domain snatch service to grab that domain name when it expires. Another possible option is to say goodbye to that domain name and come up with another one. If the pages are valuable in there, you may want to copy the online version while it is still available.

I wish you well.

:)

Dave Zan's right. Absent assistance from the ISP, your options are limited. In a positive vein, depending on who the registrar is, they may accept an affidavit or similar legal instrument to effect the change.

As a registrar, we have significant and substantial liability as regards domain "hijacking." That's why the typical canned response is, "Without the login credentials there's nothing we can do."

But, this is the real world, so there's got to be some flexibility. Try to escalate it to a senior manager, and by all means, start a dialog with your attorney. The issue is establishing ownership of the domain. Check with your Accounts Payable people: Do they have records showing that the domain was registered by the ISP on behalf of your company? There must be records -- the ISP didn't do it for free....

If the domain's "dead" because the ISPs nameservers are offline, try Archive.org to get snapshots of what the site looked like in the past. If you can show your company's name and address all over it, that'll perhaps help.

And, again, escalate it with the registrar. Perhaps your attorney can talk to their attorney.... Demonstration that there's not fraud on your behalf will go a long way.

Thanks for the response. They did register as "registrant","admin" and "tech" contacts. Unfortunately, this was done in 2001 so there are no records or anyone who is still around that would have access to this account. Is there no recourse in this kind of situation?

If you have no proof of ownership. Your doomed. Best to start transferring your website to another domain and notifying all your customers.

What happened to the domain name your ISP used? If it is still active and used by some other company, perhaps you could try to approach them hoping that they would be willing to help you.

If, by any chance, the domain expired and is available for registration, you could register it and set up e-mail addresses that were used in your domain's WHOIS. If you managed to do that, it might be possible to retrieve password to your domain's account.

Marek

If, by any chance, the domain expired and is available for registration, you could register it and set up e-mail addresses that were used in your domain's WHOIS. If you managed to do that, it might be possible to retrieve password to your domain's account.
Yes, it's feasible TECHNICALLY (I know of people doing something similar), but mind you that it's LEGALLY fraudulent.