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How to Get Back A Domain Held Hostage

by Cynthia A.
3 replies
I'm working with someone who has a domain name & website using his business name that he thought he owned but doesn't (the website designer put it in his own company name & ended up selling it to another company). The business owner automatically gets billed from a foreign company to keep the site up, even though he has no access to it & the info on it is outdated by several years. He wants to try to get the domain back but no one associated with the site (the designer or new registrant) is reachable. The domain expires in December. He would like to have it back or at least be able to redirect to a new, similar one he plans to register. Does anyone know how to get the domain back if we can't find the current owner?

Also Google Maps has quite a few reviews, etc from online directories (like Yelp) using that website address. When we updated the Google Maps as the owner (without that website address), all the reviews disappear because they are no longer associated with the business website. Is there a fix for this?

Thanx in Advance,
Cythia
#back #domain #held #hostage
  • Profile picture of the author mywebwork
    Hi Cynthia

    Are you saying that not only does he not own his domain name but also you have no access to the files on the site? Is there any backup or copy of the site content available?

    Is the domain name the same as a name he has trademarked for his business? If so he may have some legal ground to go to the registrar with and claim ownership of the name.

    Otherwise he may just need to start from scratch, scrape as much content from the old site as he can and build a new one on a domain that he owns (and using hosting that he owns as well). And of course stop payment on the automatic billing that he's getting from this company.

    Bill
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    • Profile picture of the author Cynthia A.
      Hi Bill,

      Originally Posted by mywebwork View Post

      Are you saying that not only does he not own his domain name but also you have no access to the files on the site? Is there any backup or copy of the site content available?
      Yep, no access to the domain name or site at all...never had it. As far as a backup copy - I doubt it.

      Originally Posted by mywebwork View Post

      Otherwise he may just need to start from scratch, scrape as much content from the old site as he can and build a new one on a domain that he owns (and using hosting that he owns as well).
      He doesn't actually need the content because it's outdated. He just wanted the domain name back so he could use it for the new site he's having built. He doesn't advertise it because of the situation but it's a 10 year old domain. He'd like to be able to do a redirect because some people will see the old site when searching for his business name & may get upset that the info is wrong. (There was already someone commenting on a review site about the fact that his prices & products are outdated.) If he can't get a redirect, he'd just like to be able to get the site taken down.

      Originally Posted by mywebwork View Post

      Is the domain name the same as a name he has trademarked for his business? If so he may have some legal ground to go to the registrar with and claim ownership of the name.
      I actually don't think it's trademarked (sort of like there's an "Acme Plumbing" in every city). I'll have to find that out. But the company (or person) that owns the domain now according to the WHOIS record is in Germany. He has no idea who they are - it was sold without his knowledge.

      Thanks,
      Cynthia
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      • Profile picture of the author mywebwork
        Originally Posted by Cynthia A. View Post

        The business owner automatically gets billed from a foreign company to keep the site up,
        Originally Posted by Cynthia A. View Post

        If he can't get a redirect, he'd just like to be able to get the site taken down.
        Hi Cynthia

        I suspect that if he stopped the payments on the automatic billing the site would be taken down pretty quickly. And unless it's a domain name that is in high demand you can probably buy it once it expires in December.

        I'd suggest getting work on the new domain and site right away. If there are any back-links to the old site you'll need to get these changed, and the sooner the better.

        In the meantime you can continue to try and get in touch with the hosting company on the off-chance that you'll get a response. If you do have them sell you the domain and forward it to the new site, to capture any traffic from people who had bookmarked the old site.

        Best of luck with this...

        Bill
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