- Impact
- 1,586
Here is the situation:
I sold a domain name through a Flippa Auction that had no reserve and the domain was won by someone for less than $12, the same domain name that I turned down multiple offers highest of which was $1500 during the past few years. That was fair but it took the "winner" close to 3 months to finalize the transaction after I asked Flippa to interfere so from the start it seemed like the winner did not really want it, during the process I offered him a way out, thinking he may take it, but clearly he did not want to do anything to jeopardize his Flippa account.
At any rate, the transfer went through but it seems like the winner never changed the contact information on the domain name, and also the name servers because I can still control it. I am also still shown as the Registrant, Admin, technical and also billing in the domain record.
Today I received the standard ICANN domain information update/confirmation request. Which also confirmed that indeed I am still listed in all 4 contact fields.
I checked the who is and here is what it says:
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited icann[Dot]org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited icann[Dot]org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited
Domain Status: clientRenewProhibited icann[Dot]org/epp#clientRenewProhibited
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited icann[Dot]org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
The domain name is not expired yet, it still has more than a month left. I checked the ICANN url to understand the clientRenewProhibited epp code. and here is what is says:
------------------X------------------
Client Status codes are set by your registrar
Status Code:
clientRenewProhibited
What does it mean?
This status code tells your domain's registry to reject requests to renew your domain. It is an uncommon status that is usually enacted during legal disputes or when your domain is subject to deletion.
Should you do something?
Often, this status indicates an issue with your domain that needs resolution. If so, you should contact your registrar to resolve the issue. If your domain does not have any issues, and you simply want to renew it, you must first contact your registrar and request that they remove this status code.
------------------X------------------
So ICANN says: " It is an uncommon status that is usually enacted during legal disputes or when your domain is subject to deletion"
I don't think anyone is disputing it legally, I owned this domain name since year 2000 and it is generic a generic keyword with a popular prefix. So that leads me to believe that the owner has marked it for deletion.
1- Now here is my question/s. Is there anyway that a person in my position can "recover" this domain name without being able to login to that account, since I am still listed in all the 4 contact fields for the domain.
2- Is it even ethical to contemplate such a thing? I know I almost gave it away through flippa and I know for a fact that the winner was (strangely) not at all eager to own it, and I know now that he set it up for deletion while it still have over a month to go, so it is not like I'd be taking anything of value to him but at the same time he won it and he is free to delete it or give it away.
I know some may suggest that I contact him and ask him to return it back if he does not want it, but we all know how this will go, I'd rather not take that route at all and if I have to I'd let it expire and try to grab it, but we also know that GoDaddy will most likely put it up for auction.
So this is a two-pronged question:
Technically, could it be done? and Ethical, should it be done?
Thanks in advance for your opinions.
I sold a domain name through a Flippa Auction that had no reserve and the domain was won by someone for less than $12, the same domain name that I turned down multiple offers highest of which was $1500 during the past few years. That was fair but it took the "winner" close to 3 months to finalize the transaction after I asked Flippa to interfere so from the start it seemed like the winner did not really want it, during the process I offered him a way out, thinking he may take it, but clearly he did not want to do anything to jeopardize his Flippa account.
At any rate, the transfer went through but it seems like the winner never changed the contact information on the domain name, and also the name servers because I can still control it. I am also still shown as the Registrant, Admin, technical and also billing in the domain record.
Today I received the standard ICANN domain information update/confirmation request. Which also confirmed that indeed I am still listed in all 4 contact fields.
I checked the who is and here is what it says:
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited icann[Dot]org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited icann[Dot]org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited
Domain Status: clientRenewProhibited icann[Dot]org/epp#clientRenewProhibited
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited icann[Dot]org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
The domain name is not expired yet, it still has more than a month left. I checked the ICANN url to understand the clientRenewProhibited epp code. and here is what is says:
------------------X------------------
Client Status codes are set by your registrar
Status Code:
clientRenewProhibited
What does it mean?
This status code tells your domain's registry to reject requests to renew your domain. It is an uncommon status that is usually enacted during legal disputes or when your domain is subject to deletion.
Should you do something?
Often, this status indicates an issue with your domain that needs resolution. If so, you should contact your registrar to resolve the issue. If your domain does not have any issues, and you simply want to renew it, you must first contact your registrar and request that they remove this status code.
------------------X------------------
So ICANN says: " It is an uncommon status that is usually enacted during legal disputes or when your domain is subject to deletion"
I don't think anyone is disputing it legally, I owned this domain name since year 2000 and it is generic a generic keyword with a popular prefix. So that leads me to believe that the owner has marked it for deletion.
1- Now here is my question/s. Is there anyway that a person in my position can "recover" this domain name without being able to login to that account, since I am still listed in all the 4 contact fields for the domain.
2- Is it even ethical to contemplate such a thing? I know I almost gave it away through flippa and I know for a fact that the winner was (strangely) not at all eager to own it, and I know now that he set it up for deletion while it still have over a month to go, so it is not like I'd be taking anything of value to him but at the same time he won it and he is free to delete it or give it away.
I know some may suggest that I contact him and ask him to return it back if he does not want it, but we all know how this will go, I'd rather not take that route at all and if I have to I'd let it expire and try to grab it, but we also know that GoDaddy will most likely put it up for auction.
So this is a two-pronged question:
Technically, could it be done? and Ethical, should it be done?
Thanks in advance for your opinions.