Hi

This is a complicated one!

My father was a director of a company with 2 other directors about 8 years ago.

One of the Directors registered a domain with Internetters, it has his name and the company name on it.

About 7 years ago, my father bought the company from the other directors.

The person who registered the domain gave all the username and passwords to me and my father along with a pre-forma invoice from internetters - It was billed for a year in advance and basically said if you no longer need the domain, do not pay.

As we did not need the domain, we did not pay.

Each and every year, the domain has been renewed, and it looks like it was internetters who are doing it.

I have been in contact with internetters and they are saying that they can only deal with the named contact - which I understand.

I have tried using the username/password that was given to me, but it does not work and if I do the forgot password link on their site, it says the domain does not exist

The whois record has not changed and it lists the companies name and the other Director.

I have tried sending a letter (no response), emailing (but all of his addresses have expired) and phoning, however I am getting no response and as neither my father or the other director has had contact in over 5 years, we are fearing the worst.

I was just wondering, does anyone know if there is anything I can do?

I don't think there's anything you can do, otherwise they would be allowing people other than the owner to take control without the owners permission.

You MAY have a chance if it's registered under a company name.

That is what I was hoping for, the company name is in the whois along with the original address.

I have sent copies of the company registration information, change of address and all official documents that show the old address (on the whois) along with the change of address documents e.t.c.

They are not budging! I would understand on a active company and a request out of the blue, but the fact is, it hasn't been used in years, he even gave us the username and passwords for the control panel, a letter saying you can do what you want with the domain e.t.c.

Anyway, I completely understand, it is just annoying :(

OK, just a few thoughts:

Firstly you say you didn’t want it, hence letting it lapse, so now you want it?

Secondly, for 8 years of registration, I would think that there will be some hefty charges in there somewhere, therefore they want to talk to whom they think the official owner is.

Thirdly, if the company name is on the WHOIS, that is the rightful owner, not a director of the company. Did he get a purchase/sale agreement (your father) when he bought the company, if so, supply that to them as official confirmation of transfer (should they be that pedantic)?

Lastly, Internetters are a UK company, did you buy a .UK by any chance? Or was it a different TLD ?

Regards,
Chris

Hi

It is a .com name

I agree with the expiration, We did not renew it as we did not need it, it is such a obscure name that we were hoping if it expired, no one would register it. That being said, Internetters have auto renewed it for no reason. If they did want money, I would be happy to pay for it.

Thanks

If they kept renewing it then it's more than likely that the domain has some value. Unfortunately, if you let it expire, they're in a position to do this.

I'd take some of the advice above, although be prepared for big charges. They won't give it up easily.

It looks like it was a error as when I brought it to their attention, they said thanks and that it would not renew this year.

I think it was a mistake that it was auto renewing, and I can not imaging the domain having any real value - If it expires, there are alternatives I can register, it is just annoying as this would be first choice.

First of all, on the purely legal side of things... the domain is registered to a limited company, Internetters' contract is with that limited company, and they CANNOT refuse to deal with that company. If this domain is important to you (and I can't work out if it is or not) you could probably do something to MAKE them deal with your limited company. (You may want to get legal advice on this)

However, I must say that your story doesn't really seem to add up. Eight years ago you didn't want the domain. Now you suddenly want it. What has changed?

I can't help thinking that there may be more to this than meets the eye...

There is nothing sinister about this!

My father bought the company from the other directors, nearly all business was word of mouth and all them years ago, the website was lucky to get a couple of visitors a week (who were usually search bots).

The domain just wasn't being used and we decided we did not need it any more.

I know it is my fault for letting it expire, but it was many years ago (when cybersquatting wasn't as big of a problem as it is today) and we just thought that if we let it expire, we would be able to renew it later. The company name is two words together and it really does not mean anything to anyone else.

Well...

I thought all was lost and the domain expired... but then... Internetters renewed it again!

This weekend, I got a email out of the blue from the original person basically saying "hello" along with a nice chat!

It is a surprise to see him still around, but very happy. He wrote a email to Internetters and long story short, the domain is mine now and all safe!

I have to say, I was very annoyed by the fact Internetters refused to help despite the company being named on the whois and I had proof that we owned the company e.t.c. however, all's well that ends well!

I don't understand why they renewed it every year. It has only just been renewed for a further year and they have given it to me for free. I am very grateful to them and even offered to pay but they did not want anything and I have a extra year on the domain now.

So, I am happy!

Thanks people for your responses.