Jul 14 2008
Domain Name Not Owned By Customer
I’ve got a former customer who transferred out to another hoster a few months ago. One day I came across his customer record with me, out of curiosity I just did a check up on the WHOIS page of his domain name to find out who he is hosting with.
I was stunned to find out that the ownership of his domain name is being owned by the new hosting provider! He is no longer the legal owner of his domain name which he first registered through me!
I immediately sent an email to notify him on the matter. However, it seems he doesn’t mind about it. Perhaps there is a special arrangement between him and the provider?
Anyway, it seems there are many cases in which web designers and web hosters to own customers’ domain names.
Do customers not know they are the ones who paid for the domain names and should own them? Do they not know their domain names or web sites could potentially be hijacked by the provider if the latter decides to do so?
If domain hijacking happens, do they not know they may not be able to claim back their domain name since they are not the legal owner? I have seen cases where customers become victimized and have no choice but to renew with their provider, even though they are unsatisfied with their service?
Of course most web designers and hosters have no intention to hijack customers’ domain names. Maybe they want to manage the domains easier, or they just follow the industry practice.
But I’m just afraid there are a few in the industry who use the domain ownership as a way to take advantage of the naive customers. Unfortunately this happen and I have dealt with such providers before.
So please do check who owns your domain name!
Read related posts
Be updated about this blog by email or in your feed reader (RSS)!
