[colug-432] buying a registered domain

[Rick Troth]

On 02/15/2014 10:49 AM, Rick Hornsby wrote:
> The question isn’t quite “how do I buy a domain?”.

So ... you already have a registrar. I was going to make
recommendations, but not until needed.

> I own the .org of a particular second level domain.  I’d like to buy the .com and move my content over there because it really isn’t a nonprofit org.  This .com site has said “hacked by Turkish hackers” or something like that for a while.  I tried emailing the registration contact person (says they’re here in the states) a few times over about 18 months (once every few months, nothing more than that), but never heard back.  The domain registration has since been renewed through March 2015, probably blindly or automatically.

If they honestly want it (even though they can't presently use it or
aren't currently using it), yeah, they'll renew. But also, if they think
there's a business opportunity ... [sigh].

> There is a phone number listed on the registration, but I haven’t tried it.  Any thoughts/advice on this?  Has anyone ever tried to purchase a domain in a situation like this?  I would be willing to pay for the purchase, but not something outrageous.  Probably no more than $100, and that’s on the high side.  Would you mention that the site appears to have been hacked if you call the phone number (assuming it even works)?

This case sounds like it will depend entirely on the kind of person
owning the domain right now. If he's a squatter, or inclined to think
squatting is an honorable thing (or if he doesn't care about his
personal integrity), you'll be SOL.

Given that you've already tried email, I say call.

Domain squatting is a huge problem, third (IMO) after PKI cracking and
spam. (Taking snooping and bandwidth issues for granted.) But it doesn't
affect consumers as much as other problems, so it's less known.

> Certainly registrars aren’t in the business of determining the validity of a domain’s content for the purposes of selling/transferring it to a third party, and there is more to a domain than just a website.  But would trying to contact the registrar help at all?

Does your registrar (or his) have any policy w/r/t stagnant domains? It
would have to cover a range of services. One could legitimately get a
domain and choose *not* to run HTTP. (Not running SMTP would have been a
violation at one time; not sure if it still is.)

I like Steve's suggestion of brokering something via the registrar(s).

On 02/15/2014 11:11 AM, Steve VanSlyck wrote:
> Never do a domain search unless you are ready to buy immediately. By 
> "immediately" I mean IMMEDIATELY.
>
> I've found, for example, that searching for "surname.com" and not buying 
> it immediately will result in someone ELSE buying the domain and 
> stockpiling it.

Heck, I even see TWC redirecting failed DNS lookups to their own sales
system (when connecting on port 80). Really, *anything* that tickles the
domain of interest (to you) will flag it as possibly of interest (to the
opportunists).

My sister has a real estate business and wound up paying several hundred
dollars for her domain. It took several months before she (and/or her
registrar and/or her tech staff) managed to talk the squatter down from
something north of $2K. I was furious because it affected a relative.
Tried to encourage her to fight the good fight and and not give in too
soon to hostage negotiations. (But at some point, she would have to pony
up ... or change her shingle.)

-- R; <><