who's holding my domain?
Hello everyone,
I'm in a bit of a domain/host mess and hoped maybe one of you can advise. It's a longish story so I'll hope you'll bear with me...
I have a web site about cats in Hebrew and my domain is "shoonra.com". My brother-in-law is the person who actually owns the domain, as he bought it on my behalf when I was new to the business (he wanted to encourage me to start my own site). He also paid for my web host for the first months (up till now) through his company. He used "1st Choice" hosting services. My only connection with them was uploading the site. I had nothing to do with the financial side and all was well.
A few weeks ago, my brother-in-law told me that he was leaving his company (giving up his share in management) and suggested that I'll take care of the hosting from now own as the company would stop paying for hosting my site. I started looking for a host and checked "1stchoice" as well as others. I found some better deals and decided to move to another web host. I chose "Cedant.com" who offered a nice deal + two free weeks for trial.
I uploaded my site to Cedant and asked them to take over my domain.
I've had some technical problems with the upload and discovered that Cedant never replied to any of my pleas for help. It's not that they couldn't e-mail me, because they had no difficulty sending me a request to pay when the 2 weeks were over. since I wish to be able to get support by e-mail, and was very disappointed with their service I decided to look for another host.
While this was going on, my site suddenly went down. I contacted "1stchoice" and they informed me that they weren't paid in time. I told them that I had no idea as I was never involved with paying and that I was about to move my site. I asked my brother-in-law and he claims that they did pay, but that there are internal problems in "1stchoice". I have absolutely no way to find out who's right.
Well... on to another host...
This time I went to WestHost. Since I was about to leave for a 2-weeks holiday I hurried and registered with them, set up my account, paid in advance and uploaded my site. Since they asked, I sent an e-mail to both "Cedant" and "1stchoice", asking them to change my domain's server setting.
I came back from my holiday yesterday and found out that the site was totally down. No e-mail account and no nothing (you can check for yourself at [url=http://www.shoonra.com).]www.shoonra.com).[/url]
Does any one have a clue as to what's going on? I sent an e-mail to Westhost of course, but I was just wondering if any of you can help me out. How can I find out which company actually holds my domain? Can "1stchoice" hold it against my will until someone pays up? What am I to do?
Sorry for the long story...
By the way, should anyone wish to e-mail me, I am temporarily using my isp account and the address is: [email protected]
Thanks!
Anonymous posted this at 12:32 — 1st May 2000.
They have: 5,633 posts
Joined: Jan 1970
anat posted this at 13:59 — 1st May 2000.
They have: 304 posts
Joined: Dec 1999
Thanks for the help!
I suspect that K. Vision systems is my brother-in-law's company. I'll try and find out if that's him personally or not. If it is there should be no problem getting him to act on my behalf in whichever way needed. I guess that would mean him writing to 1stchoice and telling them to let go of the domain, is that right?
By the way, is it legally possible for a host to hold on to a domain like that? Like you said, it's pretty much a hostage in a financial dispute.
I'd hate to have to find a different domain, as I've managed to build quite a uniqe web identity in Israel. It's a non-comercial site but it has huge success in Israeli terms. It's meant to help cat owners take better care of their cats and has tons of info in Hebrew on the subject. I'm doing it with the help of the Israeli Cat Society which is dedicated to helping cats, esp. ferals and strays. In fact what I'm most proud of is the dozens of cats which my site helped to find good homes for in the short period in which it's been online.
Point is, the domain is a big part of my web identity (it means cat in arameic). It is the site's name and it's got all it's publicity by that name (I got very positive reviews in leading newspapers, national radio and national TV). It would be a shame to let it die and I'll do my best to save it.
Thanks again for your help Chad. I'll let you know how it goes.
Anat.
Anonymous posted this at 00:07 — 2nd May 2000.
They have: 5,633 posts
Joined: Jan 1970
You will have to get involved with Network Solutions on this, which isn't fun. Network Solutions is a pain in the butt to work with in these types of situations (as in most complicated situations).
http://www.networksolutions.com
You probably want to visit that URL. They have the information you will need to take on something like this.
Basically, what you will be doing is having K. Vision system solutions LTD. tell them that 1stchoice is not authorized to be the admin, technical, or billing contact, and you will want them to change the contacts to yourself. This will involve K. Vision system solutions LTD. as they are the owners of the domain. Once the contacts are changed, you will be able to change the name servers.
I would recommend that once the domain comes up for renewal in September of 2001, just let it expire and than register it in your own name, instead of K. Vision system solutions LTD.
------------------
TWF Administrator
Dynamic Internet Solutions : Windows NT and UNIX Hosting & Dedicated Servers
anat posted this at 10:46 — 5th May 2000.
They have: 304 posts
Joined: Dec 1999
Hi Chad,
All's well that ends well...
My site is online again. My brother-in-law contacted Network Solutions and they changed the administrative contact so that's also him now.
I'll definitely take up your advice on the renewal.
You can have a look at Shoonra now at www.shoonra.com. It's in Hebrew so your browser will probably show Gibberish, but you can see my cat in the middle!
Thanks again.
Anat.
Anonymous posted this at 12:47 — 5th May 2000.
They have: 5,633 posts
Joined: Jan 1970
Glad to hear you got it settled Anat!!!! I am extremely surprised that Network Solutions worked with you guys that quickly. In my experience with them, it takes at least 2 weeks for them to get moving and another two weeks before any results are seen in these cases.
BTW, your site is in gibberish
... Nice looking site though (and cat).
------------------
TWF Administrator
Dynamic Internet Solutions : Windows NT and UNIX Hosting & Dedicated Servers
Anonymous posted this at 17:52 — 5th May 2000.
They have: 5,633 posts
Joined: Jan 1970
Yeah. That’s not normal. I have a client who’s been trying for over a month to get his administrative contact changed.
------------------
Adam
AIS Internet Solutions
[email protected]
www.aisinternet.com
cds posted this at 07:11 — 9th May 2000.
They have: 359 posts
Joined: Mar 1999
Hey, I almost deciphered it. Decided it kinda looks like my handwriting and then I remembered that I can't read my own handwriting so I gave up!
Dan
Dan
Recycle Video Games Network
Stupidity killed the cat, curiosity was framed!
fairhousing posted this at 07:39 — 9th May 2000.
They have: 1,587 posts
Joined: Mar 1999
i think u'll find a high level of customer service from network solutions as the competition for saling domain names continues to increase while ns continue to charge outrageous fees.
------------------
CLICK 4 some tested resources for making money $, hosting, and web promotions.
My Site got hacked, but i'm coming back?
Traffic-Website.com free traffic, affiliate programs, hosting, & domain names.
My Site got hacked, but i'm coming back?
Ted posted this at 14:14 — 9th May 2000.
They have: 74 posts
Joined: Apr 2000
Anat,
Yours is the first Hebrew site I have visited. Never thought about it until now, but the "Standard" for Hebrew sites is probably to have the nav bar on the right as opposed to the left with English language sites, correct?
anti posted this at 14:43 — 12th May 2000.
They have: 453 posts
Joined: Jan 1999
Hi,
I had a similar problem 2 years ago.
A big german provider held my domain webhome.de hostage for around 16 month.
I have it back, but it gave the lawyers quite a bit of work.
Luckily it looks like the process is being changed so that the admin-c can override the tech-c
[This message has been edited by anti (edited 12 May 2000).]
Want to join the discussion? Create an account or log in if you already have one. Joining is fast, free and painless! We’ll even whisk you back here when you’ve finished.