Getting back the domain of your name from the domain hoarders?

[reddragdiva]

I just got asked someone's help with an interesting question, so I thought I'd ask you lot:

The person had a domain that was their first and last name — firstlast.com — which they were selling their artwork on. They were handing out business cards with the domain name and all — demonstrably trading under it.

The person accidentally let the domain expire, and domaindoorman.com swooped in and grabbed it. It's now a parked search portal.

Now — apparently a few other artists who'd had similar problems with people buying their name as a .com had won the domains back, based on the common-law trademark on their name used as not merely their name but their business. (Something about these being people selling stuff related to the person whose name it actually was.)

"So what I'm wondering is, since the domain is my name, is there any way at all that I can get it back under my control without paying huge amounts of money for court/lawyer fees?"

It's a .com and both parties are in the US — does the person go to WIPO first or last? Or what? Anyone actually done this or know anyone who's actually done this?

Comments

[hawkeviper.livejournal.com]

Been there done that with chezrene.com. Easy solution is, write to the current registrar listing details of the previous registration, include links to archive.com showing that you had the website and were running a business or a personal website through it. Point out that there is now a domain squatter there; and they'll give you your domain back. 99% of registrars are extremely good about this -- you'll also receive from the registrar the remaining time left that the squatter has paid for. =)

[(Anonymous)]

The registrar is the squatter. I've tried e-mailing and calling, and they haven't responded. Is there any way that I can go higher than the registrar? Or is it possible that DomainDoorman LLC is owned by someone else?

This is the whois for it:

Domain Name: *******
Registrar: DOMAINDOORMAN, LLC
Whois Server: whois.domaindoorman.com
Referral URL: http://www.domaindoorman.com
Name Server: NS-1.NAMESERVERACCOUNT.COM
Name Server: NS-2.NAMESERVERACCOUNT.COM
Name Server: NS-3.NAMESERVERACCOUNT.COM
Status: ok
Updated Date: 22-may-2007
Creation Date: 22-may-2007
Expiration Date: 22-may-2008

[exiledv2.livejournal.com]

If the registrar is the squatter, you have a problem.

Domaindoorman is one of the well-known domain pirates that exist; I can't remember if they're based out of Jamaica or the Netherlands.

Either way, when I worked for Web.com we'd encounter a problem like this every other week. Usually the client was screwed; we'd have sent out the proper domain renewal notifications to the listed account contact info, thus absolving ourselves of liability.

So, if with the previous registrar you were under you:
a) had updated and current contact information
b) did not receive the renewal notice
c) and not receiving that renewal notice was NOT due to something on your part (spam/junk filters, non-recommended contact email address)
THEN, and only then, the previous registrar should assume responsibility for getting it back.

Otherwise, it's coughin' up money time.

[oddlystrange.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

I constantly have to tell clients to avoid the "cheap" registrars (the ones that promise $9 registrations and the like), as I've seen countless of them get bamboozled into paying upwards of $500 to keep the domain when they let it expire by as little as 4 hours.

You might have to hoark up some dollars (the "oops ransom" fee), but you should be able to recover the domain through your original registrar, which hopefully wasn't domaindoorman.

[exiledv2.livejournal.com]

I checked the whois.
It is.
Totally fubared.