How to force transfer of domain name?

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miamivice
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How to force transfer of domain name?

Post by miamivice »

I am on the board of a nonprofit organization. We are interested in creating a website that we host ourselves so others can see what we are all about. We used to have a website managed by a 3rd party entity, who continues to hold ownership of the domain name that is the best candidate domain name.

We would like to acquire the domain name from the 3rd party entity and take ownership of it, so we can host our own website.

I have not yet reached out to the 3rd party entity. I am assuming that they will not want to willingly give it to us for free. I don't know what the charge might be, but I do not believe our Board will want to pay anything to the 3rd party entity for the acquisition of the domain name.

I understand that there are certain occasions we can force the transfer of the domain name. Wondering if anyone here knows the process and how we go about doing it?

Thanks.
7eight9
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Re: How to force transfer of domain name?

Post by 7eight9 »

Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy --- https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/help/dndr/udrp-en
I guess it all could be much worse. | They could be warming up my hearse.
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celia
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Re: How to force transfer of domain name?

Post by celia »

FYI, the domain name is different than the hosting service or the company building your website. You can own a domain name (like Bogleheads.org) and pay for hosting services elsewhere. I don’t think you want to “host” the website as you can spend lots of time defending it from hackers. Just obtain the domain and change hosting services, if you wish.

I know nothing about transferring the domain name from another party. But you can start by asking for it/ about it. There is a fee for owning it for specific periods of time, so you should be willing to pay at least that. You can also obtain the front part of the domain, but use a different extension. For example, if Bogleheads.org can’t be turned over to you, maybe you can register Bogleheads.net or Bogleheads.com.

Or you can go to Whois.com and enter the domain name to see who owns it and when the domain expires. If the renewal is soon, just don’t pay the current owner any more. If (and that might be a big “if”) they don’t renew it, you can then buy it. But they may renew it even if you don’t pay just to force you to stay with them.
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Eagle33
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Re: How to force transfer of domain name?

Post by Eagle33 »

Determine a fair market value for the domain name, then ask if 3rd party willing to donate the domain name to your non-profit for tax purposes.
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starboi
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Re: How to force transfer of domain name?

Post by starboi »

You can’t force them to give it to you.
Nyc10036
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Re: How to force transfer of domain name?

Post by Nyc10036 »

starboi wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:59 pm You can’t force them to give it to you.
Avoid Trademark Infringement When You Choose a Domain Name

[Link reformatted by moderator oldcomputerguy]
ThisTime
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Re: How to force transfer of domain name?

Post by ThisTime »

There are development companies, hosting companies, and there's the domain registrar. Development companies are usually not hosting or registrar companies but have reseller agreements with them and bundle hosting and registration in with the development.

If you were/are paying for an all-in-one development package and are currently using the domain name now with that package then it's basically already your domain. You'd initiate a domain name transfer transfer to a different register. You may very well need the cooperation of the current developer (to change emails associated with the domain and possibly to unlock it at the current registrar) but reputable developers don't generally hold domains hostage, especially if you've been paying them domain name renewal fees. You'll want to have hosting already setup somewhere else especially if you want the site to be live after the transfer. Once it's transferred then you'd change the nameservers at the registrar to those given to you by your new host.
Mudpuppy
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Re: How to force transfer of domain name?

Post by Mudpuppy »

When this happened to my hobbyist group a couple of decades ago, the lawyer said it would be about $10k to manage the paperwork and dispute for us with no guarantee that the dispute would be found in our favor. We just registered another vanity domain directly in our control and rebranded to that domain. By directly in our control, I mean that we manage all of the settings with the registrar, rather than letting the third-party hosting company "do it for us". You can still have a third-party hosting company while retaining direct control of your registry settings.

In our case, there was only a verbal agreement with the third-party, rather than a written contract, so it would have been more difficult to prove that they were acting on our behalf rather than legitimate owners of the domain. The domain name was also not exceedingly unique, so we didn't have that in our favor either.

Perhaps in your case, there was a written/electronic contract stating who is the actual owner of the domain name. I would suggest looking into that first. If there is a contract that says the third-party is just an authorized agent on behalf of the organization, but the organization is the owner of the domain name, then you have a much stronger case.
mud
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Re: How to force transfer of domain name?

Post by mud »

do you have reason to believe that the 3rd party will not willingly transfer the name to an account under your control? My recommended approach:

1. Reach out to the 3rd party. Explain that you're looking to consolidate some of your digital assets as part of a broader information security strategy, and you're wanting to bring your domain registration back in-house.
2. Indicate that you're happy to pay for their time in transferring the domain to a registrar account that you control. Depending on how they hold your domain, this could either be a fresh account that you setup at the same company where the domain is registered that they can easily reassign ownership. Or, in the case that it is locked in some proprietary registrar account, you'll need to do a registrar transfer.
3. If you don't already know how to handle such a transfer, it's not too difficult, but do all you can to make it as easy for the 3rd party as you can.

My sense is that unless they hold a grudge for some reason, they won't necessarily be happy to make this change, but they should be willing to do it. Your offer to pay them for their efforts in helping to transfer it will be a drop in the bucket compared to what you'd be looking at in legal fees and hassle to make it all happen. Hopefully they rightfully realize that if you've been paying them annually to maintain registration of the domain, it is rightfully yours.

PM me if you have any questions. Obviously, domain names are important and getting it under your control is clearly an important task ahead.
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celia
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Re: How to force transfer of domain name?

Post by celia »

miamivice wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 12:03 pm We used to have a website managed by a 3rd party entity, who continues to hold ownership of the domain name that is the best candidate domain name.
It sounds like you don’t have a website at the moment. Have you gone to the domain recently to confirm the domain is not in use or the webpage you see is very old?

Does the current board have access to finding out the history of obtaining the domain? For example, was something recorded in the board minutes or do the treasurer’s records show the time period you were paying for your website to be built? Look for what was originally agreed upon and if something was in writing.

If the “entity” is a former member/leader of the non-profit and the organization was paying him/her to renew the domain and hosting service, it is quite possible the domain has always belonged to the non-profit and they were just reimbursing this person for his/her out-of-pocket expenses.
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