Verisign Vs Reseller

[James]

We own several domains, either for current use or potential future development. The administration of these domains can be quite time consuming particularly when the domains are held in various registrars accounts. To simplify things we moved all our domains into one registrar account.

Recently we had reason to transfer one of the domains we own out of account into another, but found this wasnt possible. It now appears we are stuck with our present registrar for the life of our domains! This raised a big a couple of concerns for me:

1. What happens if the registrar we are with goes out of business?
2. What happens if the choose to inflate their yearly domain renewal prices?

I'm starting to regret leaving verisign. At least with them, we were safe in the knowledge that their business model was secure.

Is it worth paying the higher fees with Verisign so that you can sleep at night??

[Jaiem]

Why won't they let you transfer??

[James]

Simply put they say its "not possible"

[akashik]

ok, the next question obviously is who is it, so I can be sure never to use them. Sounds a bit dodgy to me.

Greg Moore

[Jaiem]

That's a load of Barbara Sterisand (BS!).

If they won't transfer that's different than saying it can't be done.

Did the TOS say no transfers are possible? My advise - get a lawyer!

[James]

Thanks guys,

I'm looking into the contracts as we speak. Unfortunately the person that signed them isnt still with our company :shake:

As for naming names..... the company in question is B***R*******.com

I'll let you know when I find out the contractual details. But as for what I said earlier, do you know where you stand if your registrar goes belly up? What happens to the domain?

[Phoenix]

No registrar can hold you to doing business with them, once the term of your contract period is up. If you sign up for 1 year with them, you can't change registrars during that period, but once the year is up, you can switch. If I read the asterisks correctly, their service agreement states that.

Same if they go down for the third time, then, their contract with you becomes null and void, and you should be free to choose any other registrar you wish.

They are not easy to deal with-being corrupt and bureaucratic, but if any registrar tries to tie you to them over and above what is appropriate, report them to ICANN.

[dotcomguy]

Originally posted by James Cross
<SNIP>
Recently we had reason to transfer one of the domains we own out of account into another, but found this wasnt possible. It now appears we are stuck with our present registrar for the life of our domains! This raised a big a couple of concerns for me:

1. What happens if the registrar we are with goes out of business?
2. What happens if the choose to inflate their yearly domain renewal prices?

<SNIP>

James,

I'm assuming you are referring to transferring from an account at one registrar to an account at another registrar, inwhich case I agree with all the previous posts. If I'm wrong, please explain.

To answer your questions:

#1: In a nutshell - they go back to Network Soluitons (Verisign). In all likelihood, your domains may get picked up by another registrar during the BK auction.....but then again, maybe not. Depending on the registrar, it is most likely designated in their ICANN contract who the domains go to in case of insolvency - for most registrars, there was only one choice when they were applying for ICANN accreditation.

#2: Probably not much you can do about that, unless it's in the contract that they won't raise their rates. A rational and honest registrar should realize that whatever they charge you for the first year of registration is, for the most part, the most they will ever be able to charge you for any renewal.

Above all, there shouldn't be any reason why you cannot transfer your domains to another registrar - this is a basic right as a domain holder.

[yourdomainhost]

Originally posted by James Cross
Simply put they say its "not possible"

According to ICANN's Registrar License and Agreement (http://www.icann.org/nsi/nsi-rla-04nov99.htm):



In those instances when the Registrar of record denies the requested change of Registrar, the Registrar of record shall notify the prospective gaining Registrar that the request was denied and the reason for the denial.

I'm not sure that "it's not possible" qualifies as a valid "reason for the denial". I hope not, anyway.

I was under the impression that registrars had to approve transfers unless there was a valid reason. This is what ICANN says about denying transfers:



Instances when the requested change of sponsoring Registrar may be denied include, but are not limited to:

1) Situations described in the Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
2) A pending bankruptcy of the SLD Holder
3) Dispute over the identity of the SLD Holder
4) Request to transfer sponsorship occurs within the first 60 days after the initial registration with the Registrar


The "not limited to" phrase seems to indicate that the registrar can deny a transfer for just about any reason. I can't find anything in the ICANN agreement that suggests otherwise. That's a little scary.

James

[James]

Originally posted by yourdomainhost

The "not limited to" phrase seems to indicate that the registrar can deny a transfer for just about any reason. I can't find anything in the ICANN agreement that suggests otherwise. That's a little scary.


This isnt the first time we've encountered this problem. We had a similar problem with another domain registrar a few weeks ago.

It looks like contractually speaking we're on safe ground with our current registrar, so I'm going to start pressing them legally to allow us to move back to NSI.

Thanks again everyone for the quick replies :D