Suzanne — Mon, 17 Jun 2002 18:37:02 +0000

You know, I knew that Verisign was doing this switch trick, but I didn't realize they were using false renewal dates. My god.

http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20020616&mode=classic

SW Reynolds — Mon, 17 Jun 2002 17:29:03 +0000

Very interesting. Our experiences here seem to be just one tip of a rather large iceberg. Suzanne will find one of the followup articles particularly appropriate:

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/industry/06/07/verisign.lawsuit.reut/index.html?related

andilinks — Mon, 17 Jun 2002 08:27:35 +0000

Here's an interesting new article/review in Salon on the domain name mess:
http://salon.com/tech/books/2002/06/14/root/index.html

SW Reynolds — Sat, 15 Jun 2002 20:27:20 +0000

This has been a very informative thread, and I've learned a lot - thanks to all.

My sincerist wish is that something like my experience happen to one of the big players - one with deep pockets - who then goes to court to settle the issue once and for all. I then hope that a precedence is set, that starts the ball rolling towards hard + fast standards that everyone can point to as being the ground rules. Doesn't seem to be too much to ask.

Then after that gets fixed, let's do something about the onslaught on spam email that is turning people off on a daily basis........ if only!

thewitt — Sat, 15 Jun 2002 20:00:15 +0000

There is a proposal in front of ICANN to grant a formal grace period to domain expirations, as well as a formal drop period for expired domains. Currently there are no rules for either of these items, so registrars are free to make it up as they go along.

The loss of a domain the way this one was lost falls into an area of customer service and consumer fraud however.

You received a notice that your domain was successfully renewed, then you lost your domain because someone else registered it. If your domain was established and really worth something other than your $20 fee, I would contact a lawyer familiar with Internet law and file a suit for damages. You have proof that you renewed the domain successfully. You don't own the domain any longer. Seems pretty straight forward to me.

-t

andilinks — Wed, 05 Jun 2002 23:26:51 +0000

Quote: Which is why issues of trademark and domain names are currently heating up US courtrooms.

Yes, and it can only get much worse before it gets better because of all the new tld's (.biz, .us, .tv, etc.) that people are snapping up and trying to sell back to the owners of the trademarks. Maybe it's a good time to develop a strategy for dealing with a compromised URL before it happens.

I do think one solution may lie in the better algorithms used by Google and their determination to stay a step ahead of those who would scam them. They actually do frequent the discussion boards and chat rooms where the search engine scamming is planned. It may pay to keep track of all the sites who link to you so you can notify them quickly. This also affects the PageRank which is perhaps more important in getting you listed on the first page of the search results.

Just a few thoughts, randomly hatched.

Andi

Suzanne — Wed, 05 Jun 2002 22:18:08 +0000

no one's mad.

It's true that Google is a godsend, but that doesn't take into account the physical collatoral (business cards, stationary, boxes, invoices, print ads) for many sites, the marketing and branding that goes with a domain name. It's not just a matter of location, it's a matter of identity.

Which is why issues of trademark and domain names are currently heating up US courtrooms.

Discussion is always good, so is debate, as long as we're debating the issues, and not each other, if you know what I mean?

andilinks — Wed, 05 Jun 2002 21:56:00 +0000

I never meant to imply that there was no value to an established URL with established traffic. It is after all the closest thing you can get to LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION on the web. But the value is diminishing because of the abuses, and for new businesses the URL is of a lot less importance than those other things, service, etc... But did I succeed in getting the discussion heated up a little.

Most new traffic is generated by Google, which powers Yahoo's search function as well as others, I've read that 80% of all searches are now being done by Google. One of the reasons they are so popular is that they DO update quickly. My site has been Google-botted several times in it's short life. Google will respond to new URL's. and does update by request.

http://www.google.com/about.html

Please don't be mad at me if you already know this, I'm just trying to be helpful.

Andi

gavin681 — Wed, 05 Jun 2002 18:46:05 +0000

Yes I know I know! We spent more than 2 years trying to get BahamaRealEstate.com changed over to our name. It was in the name of an old hosting company. Eventually after many phone calls, faxes and emails we were able to gain control.

The lesson we learnt was to keep control personally of all domain info and store it in a fireproof safe as well just in case!

I can bet most domain companies suck at support.

Even a lot of hosting companies suck at support too.

Best to email them first to see how long they take to get back to you if at all.

At Fast Sites we believe that good support starts at the general sales enquiry stage.

Suzanne — Wed, 05 Jun 2002 18:44:47 +0000

Community, service and brand loyalty ARE tied to your url. Specifically, that's how people find you.

Ever had to change your name? How about get your ID replaced after having a wallet stolen?

Now think about a business operating under a name, using that name for a domain name as well. The domain name becomes the way that people understand the business. For some people, the domain name IS their identity (ebay, amazon).

Let's talk about email. Email is run on domain names. If the domain name goes off somewhere, all the email goes bye-bye with it. Which means that other people can steal your email. Oh! Yes.

I steal your domain name, I steal your customers, I steal your suppliers, I steal it all.

Do not underestimate the importance of a domain name.