fcolor — Mon, 02 Aug 2004 19:43:41 +0000

Well. Ask them to initiate transfer to your next host and transfer your domain to another registar. They could not keep your domain unless you broke their TOS.

Regards
D.

cmonkey — Sat, 03 Jul 2004 15:25:25 +0000

You could just tell them that you would like the administrative contact info (who's name it registered under) transfered to your name, or your hypothetical friends name and not mention transfering to a different host, just tell them that you would feel more comfortable that way. then, if they do that (make sure by checking whois.com) transfer it when ever you would like.

Abhishek Reddy — Sat, 03 Jul 2004 10:43:08 +0000

That was somewhat hypothetical -- it's not my domain. It's happened with someone else but I'm dealing with it. I'm not aware of, nor do I have access to, any fine print (or even large print, for that matter). Now trying to decide on a course of action. :/

Busy — Sat, 03 Jul 2004 10:02:55 +0000

Read the small print of the terms and conditions.

Some hosts own the domain name usually as part of a cheaper hosting package, was very common a while ago but havent seen much of that happening of late.
Some hosts will sell you the rights to the name (sign it over to you), sometimes after a certain length of time, you'll have to read the small print.

legally they own the name if they registered it under thier name.