February 08, 2006

Curious George: Domain Renewal Has anyone had a domain expire? Did you get it back? If so, how?

Back in the day you'd just re-register it, but these days giant SleazeCorp people suck up any domain they can and try to sell it back for $$$. NameWinner.com was suggested by somebody but that starts at $40, and as an auction site, is it something I'd have to watch all the time? The domain that expired is nothing great, just a charliejoesautoparts.com thing.

posted by petebest 18 years ago
  • has some name company picked it up? what do they want for it? in my case, I got contacted by the registrar a couple of times in the weeks leading up to my expiration/renewal period, so I didn't have to remember when.
  • If they won't negotiate outright for a reasonable price then perhaps these links might help. Cybersquatting: What It Is and What Can Be Done About It wikipedia - cybersquatting
  • (Boring) Personal story: My blog was originally at oneswellfoop.com. During a period when I lacked internet access, the $35 it cost to renew in those bad old days or any motivation, I let it lapse and it was scooped up by cybersquatters who at first tried to sell it back to me (I forget how much... my mind blanks out traumas like that) but now runs it as part of a generic ad portal network. I do now have oneswellfoop.net, and plan to never let it go.
  • yeah nobody's picked it up yet, but they will. It's not my domain directly and the people ignored the expiration warnings. Those fargin icehole cyberswatters.
  • lost the pandapr0n.com domain, eh?
  • Contact their registar. Most registars 'hold' on to the domain name...so if you screw up like this (say within 90 days), they can charge you $150+ to get your domain back.
  • This is why I think anybody ought to be allowed to create their own top level domain. Did someone steal your "mydomain.com"? Just make "mydomain.foo" and you're back in business. This simple change would have destroyed the ridiculous trade in precious domain names. No more cybersquatting dirty rats.
  • There's an overdependence on the .com domains, too. What's wrong with .net or even .co.us? .org isn't reserved for nonprofits any more, plus there are all those new top-level domains like .biz or .coop or .name. Just because every other major company uses .com, I mean, think different, man. A list of all top-level domains (txt file).
  • There's an intermediary step where you can get fucked directly by your registrar rather than some squatter. It'll cost you more than a renewal would have but possibly less than a squatter would want.
  • Just some interesting domain news, via MeFi: VeriSign has somehow persuaded ICANN to propose a new contract where VeriSign will be the permanent and unregulated controller of the .COM registry. VeriSign would also get the right of presumptive renewal. This means when the new contract for the .COM registry comes up for renewal in 2012, it won’t be put out for bid – like the .NET contract was in 2005 – instead it will simply renew in VeriSign’s favor. Plus VeriSign gets to raise prices without oversight! from the blog of the GoDaddy president. Or . . whatever.
  • D'oh!main Names If you're looking for a masculine domain name, you'll be disheartened to learn that of the 1219 male names listed by the US Census Bureau, every single one is registered. If you're looking for something feminine, you're in luck: As I type this, of the 2841 female names listed by the Census, you can soon grab the lucrative recently expired Erlinda.com, or the sitting in purgatory Shanita.com, though both are technically currently taken. On the family name front, 100% of the top 10,000 family names are registered. . . . On the love front, 1958 (68.9%) of the 2841 possible 'ILOVE'-prefixed female names (using the census set of names) sit unclaimed, which is surprizing, as only 665 (54.5%) of 1219 'ILOVE'-prefixed male names remain available. Lots of geekery regarding the venerable .COM