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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    * Domain Name @ GoDaddy Hijacked!!!

    My employer has a domain that is owned by their company and had been outsourcing to a small web services company for hosting and domain registration. Anyways the guy hijacked our companies domain because we told him we did not wanna use him for hosting anymore because he was charging us almost 1 grand a month for a small hosting package.... anyways the guy changed all the registrant details on our domain and will not release it to us unless we pay him a large amount of money even though we paid for registration costs.... the domain is registered at GoDaddy and so far GoDaddy is insisting they cannot help us even though we have invoices and copies of checks plus our corporation documents clearly showing that the domain name is our incorporated name aswell....

    Any advice on what to do? GoDaddy says that we have to use the UDRP but that costs almost a grand all by itself.... does godaddy have any obligation to return control of the domain to us?

    Is there any e-mails for people I can contact in ICANN to get any assistance with this problem?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
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    4,667
    GoDaddy is in a bind and can't arbitrate or decide disputes between two claimants. The legal owner, from their perspective, is the person listed in the WHOIS.
    Is it a local or out-of-state web services company? If its local its easier to file criminal charges & go after them thru the courts and local bad publicity.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Seems like it might be easier to threaten legal action against the guy holding your domain's "hostage". Might be relatively cheap to have your lawyer contact him.

    But other than that, you'll probably need to get a lawyer go the UDRP route.

    If the guy really has no legal claim to the domains, I think he'd buckle under legal pressure fairly quickly.
    [Lurking Glass] <- Not a webhost.

  4. #4
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    Would it no be more cost effective to file a civil complaint against GoDaddy in Federal Court?

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Techno View Post
    GoDaddy is in a bind and can't arbitrate or decide disputes between two claimants. The legal owner, from their perspective, is the person listed in the WHOIS.
    Is it a local or out-of-state web services company? If its local its easier to file criminal charges & go after them thru the courts and local bad publicity.
    The compny is in state..... I am wondering is filing a federal civil complaint in Federal Court might work.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by NorCalHC View Post
    Would it no be more cost effective to file a civil complaint against GoDaddy in Federal Court?
    No it won't work as godaddy is abiding by ICANN rules, domain owners is who has WHOIS in his name.

    @ NorCalHC

    Who booked the domain in the first place, the company or that guy, who holds the account at godaddy that holds that domain.

    And if you have all the proof if you paid for that domain and if you hold a previous copy of WHOIS showing the company name and details, and if you also have all the communication with that guy, drag him to the court, if court rules in your favour godaddy will give the domain to you.
    Vinsar.Net - Quality Web Hosting at Economical Price on USA & European Servers
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  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
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    Florida, USA
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    In this case it would be going against the more evil. Which as visar stated is the person listed in the WHOIS. Best option hands down would be to stake a claim against the villian.
    EZHostz.Biz (Established in 2003)
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  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
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    I'm sorry to be so harsh. But this is just another example of having your domain and webhosting with the same company. The most practical way for you to proceed is to get another domain name and another webhost (not the same this time around). Trying to recover your name is only going to result in a lot of anguish and expense. If you still want to proceed, contact a lawyer, and ask them to write your webhost a letter. Good luck.
    Signature Under Construction.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Florida, USA
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    stu2 is right, it would be mucher cheaper to just purchase a new domain. But since you have a huge stake in the present, and if still profitable, I'd do my best to get it back.
    EZHostz.Biz (Established in 2003)
    EZHostz.Biz <-> Reseller Info Domain Name Sales, WebHosting, Email Only Hosting, & Much More.
    Providers of Directi & Enom Reseller Accounts.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by Techno View Post
    GoDaddy is in a bind and can't arbitrate or decide disputes between two claimants. The legal owner, from their perspective, is the person listed in the WHOIS.
    Is it a local or out-of-state web services company? If its local its easier to file criminal charges & go after them thru the courts and local bad publicity.
    they can help if they want to.
    have your boss or company get ahold of bob parsons or the person under him or the person under him keep going
    save all your emails bills etc... show them.
    to and immedietly serve this individual with a cd or get an atty and let them handle it but hurry
    before he takes the domain to another registrar
    icann wont help you
    and after this move all your domains company wise to moniker .

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
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    Quote Originally Posted by stu2 View Post
    I'm sorry to be so harsh. But this is just another example of having your domain and webhosting with the same company.
    It appears that access to the domain was given to the hosting provider who changed the whois details.

    This is something which can be avoided by giving partial rights only without allowing them to change the whois details. I think this is possible in the Account Executive feature in GoDaddy.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by NorCalHC View Post
    does godaddy have any obligation to return control of the domain to us?
    Read your agreement before you file suit.

    Sounds like Go Daddy figures it's a civil dispute between you and the other party, which is probably why they told you to file a UDRP or seek legal advice. The registrar I worked with would likely tell you the same thing if they were told the same circumstances.

    And folks, forget about sex.com, okay? See if you can find any civil suit using the last sex.com decision as a basis for their own decision or so.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
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    Surrey BC
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    This seems like a theft and extortion case that I'm sure you're local authorities could take care of. IF they can't do anything about the domain name I'm sure there's go to be something they can do about this person wanting to extort money from you.


    + NOW WE'RE MAKING RECORDS, NOW WE'RE MAKING TAPES

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
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    isle of insanity
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    Quote Originally Posted by Evolver View Post
    This seems like a theft and extortion case that I'm sure you're local authorities could take care of. IF they can't do anything about the domain name I'm sure there's go to be something they can do about this person wanting to extort money from you.
    Indeed extortion and blackmail are still against the law in the us
    i know darn my luck.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
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    Olmstedville, NY
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    Quote Originally Posted by stu2 View Post
    I'm sorry to be so harsh. But this is just another example of having your domain and webhosting with the same company. The most practical way for you to proceed is to get another domain name and another webhost (not the same this time around). Trying to recover your name is only going to result in a lot of anguish and expense. If you still want to proceed, contact a lawyer, and ask them to write your webhost a letter. Good luck.
    Stu,

    Where did you get your wisdom

    You have been saying that all along and I wonder when people will listen?

    That is why I DO NOT use my reseller hosting company to register my domains or my client domains.

    I think it is best to have multiple hosting and registrar companies....
    The Best To You!
    Ireland - Networking the Irish / Celtic Community
    www.CapitalCeltic.com

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Ireland View Post
    I wonder when people will listen?
    Is it any wonder when people will listen to the clamor for full gun control?

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
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    Olmstedville, NY
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    439
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Zan View Post
    Is it any wonder when people will listen to the clamor for full gun control?
    Dave, domain registration and gun control..I don't get it?

    Putting all my egges in one basket in any situation is not a wise thing to do... RIGHT Stu????
    The Best To You!
    Ireland - Networking the Irish / Celtic Community
    www.CapitalCeltic.com

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
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    Yep But how many eggs to put in each basket?
    Signature Under Construction.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Georgia
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    46
    Wow.. this is scary... another forum I frequent had some sort of domain hijacking take place. I checked the Whois for his domain - metaldetectingforums.com, and the registrar is GoDaddy! A coincidence? You can read the owner's lamentations at his new site:

    metaldetectingworld.info

    I don't understand how this can happen, unless someone 'inside' is scraping login info, someone is a good hacker, or the guy had a very weak password. I guess there's other possibilities I didn't think of offhand. But, apparently it's happening more and more often.

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