Domain Registration, Renewals and Transfers
Hijacking
Many of you have received solicitations in the postal mail to renew
your domains, often generating confusion and alarm. I have seen
solicitations come from the following firms, and will expand the
list as more are noted:
- Domain Registry of America
- Liberty Names of America
- Register.com
- ICLS.net
These solicitations are often called "Domain Expiration
Notices." I have even seen them come after a
domain has already been renewed. They are sent by
postal mail so that the "less informed"
may accidentally make payment. The domain is then
"hijacked" to this new registrar. By paying
them, you are providing authorization to move your
domain name to a different registration company. Please
see full article.
The problem is that to complete the process of moving
the domain, confirmation is required from the administrative
contact. Since the admin contact would not likely
authorize the transfer, you would be faced with seeking
reimbursement. If any problems existed with your current
registration, such as an incorrect email address,
you could also be faced with losing your domain if
the transfer was not confirmed and the domain was
not renewed at the current registrar, regardless of
having paid the new firm.
If in doubt, check with us first or look it
up yourself using the link at right. You may find
that the domain has already been renewed by us.
Registrars
I have encouraged our clients to allow MadRiverConsulting (MRC)
to administer their domains. The only service I willingly use is
Tucows through MadRiverAccess reseller. Whenever possible, I transfer
registrations to MadRiverAccess. They are reliable and inexpensive,
and real people can be contacted. They send a reminder 90, 60, 30
and 3 days prior to the renewal deadline, so it is virtually a fail-safe
process. The cost is $15.00 per year, which is not the cheapest
in town, but the system works, and it is my recommendation that
the reliability is worth it. (The range of prices I have seen is
from $8.95 to $37.50 per year, so $15 is not much more than the
minimum.) A transfer to MadRiverAccess also adds an additional year
to the registration, so no time is lost.
If you have not already purchased a domain, please
let us do it for you. It is a multi-step process.
We will eventually need to change the DNS information
to reflect the hosting server address and have seen
this step cost clients more when we have to coach
them (or when passwords have been lost or email addresses
have changed) than if we did it ourselves.
When MRC Manages Your Domain(s)
When I am designated the admin contact, specifically
when the admin contact email address is mine, I take
personal responsibility to make sure your domains
get renewed each year.
When registered by us with Tucows through MadRiverAccess, you will
be invoiced by MRC.
Some people are concerned to have their website developer
be the admin contact. If you work with a reputable
firm, you should trust your website developer as much
as you trust your accountant or attorney.
Currently, we charge a quarter-hour fee to renew a domain for clients
who host with other services, and no charge (for the first domain)
to clients who host with MadRiverWeb. We have been processing all
renewals for two years at a time unless otherwise specified. The
two year renewal helps search utility optimization.
When You Manage Your Domain(s)
If we did not register your domain(s) for you, it
is important to keep a record of your login information
(a username and password) so that you may administer
your domain. It is also important that you
are the registrant, not the developer, friend or foe
that registered it for you. We recommend that you
use our email address for the admin contact so that
we may handle this for you, but make sure it is either
your email address or ours, no-one else's.
Keep your contact information up-to-date. If you change
email addresses, change your domain name registration(s)
to refect the new address so you will have the continued
ability to respond to inquiries or confirmations.
If your domain registrar has an auto-renewal feature,
make sure your credit card does not expire. I have
had clients lose domains because they either didn't
follow through on renewal or they changed email addresses
and were unreachable for renewal.
Please make note if you have domains that are not registered and
managed by MRC. You have been and will continue to be responsible
for their renewal unless you contact us requesting assistance.
Domain Transfer or DNS Change
If you have moved your hosting or have a domain for which the DNS
needs to be changed, there are a couple approaches.
If you know your login and wish to continue managing your own domain
name, you can change the DNS as your host requests. Check first
to see if the domain needs to be unlocked and do so. If hosting
with us, the DNS should be ns1.madriveraccess.com and ns2.madriveraccess.com.
If you wish for us to manage your domain, change the admin email
contact to domains@madriverweb.com. We can then transfer the domain
to the registrar that we use and change the DNS ourselves.
If making a DNS change on a domain registered with Network Solutions,
it would be best to call them and request their help with the new
DNS to avoid any interruption in website service.
This page updated February 7, 2007.
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