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Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

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41–50 of 76 posts

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#41

few days ago, i tried to purchase a domain on godaddy, I didn't buy it as I had to get approval from my manager so I left it in the cart and that time I was using my cellphone. Then after 3 days, I came back to godaddy through my PC and saw that the domain is now premium and they want amount close $3000 . I was kind of shocked. but then on my phone I noticed that item is still in my cart with the 20 dollar pricing, a…

Godaddy has been doing this since forever. They burned me with this practice circa 2005. Back then I searched for a domain, and the next day they registered it and wanted $20 more for it -- nothing close to $3000! It's funny, they put up a website at the domain with a message that it was "Parked helpfully for my convenience." Amazing to see that since they were allowed to get away with it then, they've since taken an abusive practice and turned it into extortion.

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#43

few days ago, i tried to purchase a domain on godaddy, I didn't buy it as I had to get approval from my manager so I left it in the cart and that time I was using my cellphone. Then after 3 days, I came back to godaddy through my PC and saw that the domain is now premium and they want amount close $3000 . I was kind of shocked. but then on my phone I noticed that item is still in my cart with the 20 dollar pricing, a…

I can't believe godaddy is still doing this. It should be illegal.

In the future, use gandi.net or namecheap.com. They don't engage in such despicable practices.

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#44

I've had this happen during new TLD launches. I owned lap.top for about a day but so did a whole lot of people. I lost that race. You don't own a domain. You rent it and the registrar can take it back. They generally don't, outside of trademark issues, legal problems or race conditions but they can.

In my case I actually own and control the domain (I'm in the whois and my website shows up in the browser)

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#46
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least right now I control the domain. I think the registry messed up as they allowed my registration, not the registar. Thanks for the info on the migration, that could indeed explain this.

If you have control of it you _might_ actually be the one that nabbed it, and somebody else complained they couldn't manage it. If this is the case, under no circumstance tell your registrar you're okay with losing it and dig your heels HARD. Either way you should get a cert for it with the longest expiration you can ASAP while you control it ;)

I understand your sentiment here, but should the registry decide the domain is not theirs it will simply not be manageable from the registrar/buyer. All they do is update the management id to the new registrar and the registrant contact of the domain, no intervention is possible.

I can tell you I’ve seen legal orders transferring a domain from one registrant to another, if the order has the registry named to take action, the domain kind of just goes poof, sure it’s in your system but you can’t do anything against it.

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#48

Anyone here familiar with the newly launched Ethereum Name Service (ENS)? All the registrations are handled on the blockchain. Would this error be possible on ENS?

ENS is purely a vanity service, like any other NFT.

ENS would not have this problem, however, you might as well write a name on a piece of paper and never show anyone. It is not the same thing.

ENS will never be resolvable via the global DNS namespace. Its like a parallel DNS namespace. I don't believe that any blockchain NS will ever marry with the global name resolution namespace. Handshake and Namecoin are alternatives too, and there was non-blockchain thing called NewNet that no longer exists.

Globally resolvable names need to have registration details, so when you register "cocacola", Coke can sue you for trademark infringement. They need to be revocable.

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#49
post #30
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, then when someone loses or has stolen the keys to that wallet, the domain is forever gone.

Like how when someone steals your car it's just gone forever? There still exists a legal system in which the NFT could potentially recovered. Yes it's harder with easy cross border theft, but that just means we need better global treaties.

Apples and oranges.

If your car is stolen, there's a potential for it to be physically found and returned.

If someone somehow finds the private key to steal an NFT, they could steal the NFT and then delete the private key for the new address that owns it. At that point, treaties don't matter. The ownership exchange is permanent until someone can derive the private key from the public key, which if someone did, then ALL NFTs could be stolen.

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have control of it you _might_ actually be the one that nabbed it, and somebody else complained they couldn't manage it. If this is the case, under no circumstance tell your registrar you're okay with losing it and dig your heels HARD. Either way you should get a cert for it with the longest expiration you can ASAP while you control it ;)

I understand your sentiment here, but should the registry decide the domain is not theirs it will simply not be manageable from the registrar/buyer. All they do is update the management id to the new registrar and the registrant contact of the domain, no intervention is possible. I can tell you I’ve seen legal orders transferring a domain from one registrant to another, if the order has the registry named to take act…

> I can tell you I’ve seen legal orders transferring a domain from one registrant to another, if the order has the registry named to take action, the domain kind of just goes poof, sure it’s in your system but you can’t do anything against it.

Then maybe the original poster should demand such a legal order? I doubt there exists one now given it's only been a couple days.

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