Quick Advice. My rights?

[Mencus]

.WS Dispute. My rights?

Hi.

Today I received the following email from Eric of WildWestDomains:

Hello Marcus,

In regards to your domain name, ******.WS, that domain was accidentally
released by the .WS registry due to an error in their system. Unfortunately
the .WS registry is having to return that domain back to the original owner.
My sincere apologies and if you purchased the domain from another party, you
will need to contact them for a refund. We will be refunding the party that
registered the domain directly with our system. We expect the domains will
be returned to the original owner in the next few days.

Best Regards,
Eric Asendorf
Reseller Support
480-505-8857
[email protected]

I have been the legal registrant of this domain for over 2 months now (I bought it from DomainOgre). Has anybody else received an email similar to this regarding their .WS domains?

It seems odd to me that it has taken up to two months (perhaps even longer) for them to realise a mistake in their system. What can I do to maintain the domain I legally purchased.

Should I contact website.ws and wildwestdomains? And if so, what questions should I ask?

Thanks much,
Marcus

 

[DomainOgre]

Hmmmm, my first experience with something like this.

I have not recieved the email yet, but I am sure we can work something out when I do.

 

[Mencus]

Well I dont think this is right. I would have understood if I had received this email a week after I purchased the domain, but it has been 2 months and something seems fishy.

Why would they do this so long after a history of transactions had taken place on the domain, and how could they determine who the legitimate registrant is without questioning all the parties involved with the life of this domain?

I am drafting a letter to website.ws to request an explanation.

If anybody has any input it would be much appreciated.

 

[DomainOgre]

Yea, its bull alright. .WS can be very funny sometimes.

At one time, me and fellow NPer Tippy both had Clone.ws in our accounts lol.

Like I said in the PM, I can offer you a domain of the same value in my current .ws sale. That way you still get a domain and I am not penalized $35 for this mess.

I hope you can fight them and win but not sure who you can go to since website.ws is not under ICANN.

 

[Caveman]

Stand up thing to do Ogre! You help make NP the great place it is.

 

[Redleg]

Hm, there is definately something fishy with website.ws...

I received a similar mail today from Godaddy:

We are contacting you regarding the domain ******.ws. This domain name was registered in your account on August 30th of this year. This registration was made in error as the domain was already registered by another party at another registrar. There was a glitch in the .WS domain registry’s system that allowed the name to be purchased. As such, the name will be removed from your account and your purchase will be refunded in full for this domain. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may create. Please let us know if we can be of any assistance.

Kindest Regards,

president @ godaddy . com

It's almost 3 MONTHS since I registered that domain.
My whois info have showed both at GD and website.ws, and it has been pointing to a parking page at Fabulous.com all the time!

I've mailed both Godaddy and Website.ws about this now.

Luckily I hadn't developed that domain (yet), but I've developed several others, and I'm developing some more right now, and it would have cost me (a LOT) more than the reg.fee if I'd lost one of those....

I'm looking forward to the replies from GD and website.ws....

 

[Mencus]

Thanks for the info Redleg. Keep us posted. I have also sent an email to website.ws and am awaiting their response.

In the mean time, I would suggest to anybody who receives an email similar to this that they LOCK their domains. I wouldnt be suprised if a transfer request comes through in 3 days saying I have to return the domain back to the original owner.

I hope this is just a fraud attempt and not a legitimate email. I have spent a considerable amount of money developing my domain and I would not be very happy if i were to lose it now.

 

[Redleg]

I'm afraid that it may be a legitimate e-mail..

The domain has already been transfered away from my account, and it was locked...

Edit: it is still in my GD account, no contact or nameserver info has been changed there, but it doesn't point to Fabulous.com anymore, and the whois info at website.ws has been changed...

 

[DomainOgre]

I sure hope both of you win because this is definitely not good for the future of .ws if this happens on a regular basis.

Still haven't received an email yet.

 

[Tippy]

I have yet to receive an email but I wouldnt be surprised after seeing at least to other members got one...

I would certainly fight Website.ws and lay into them real good, 2 months after the fact is unacceptable.

If others have received a similar email please do post here so we can see just how wide spread this is.

Mike

 

[Mencus]

Ok. It seems that this is official. Both Redleg and myself have had our names seized by website.ws

I would like to invite anybody who has received an email of similar nature, or who had their domain already seized, to post here. I think that we should draft a letter and present it as a unified front. This is wrong.

I look forward to your posts.

Regards,
Marcus

 

[Mencus]

*NEWS*[\b]

Yesterday I sent the following email to website.ws

-----Original Message-----
From: Marcus Bingemann
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 1:03 AM
To: WS Support
Subject: .WS Registry Error? **URGENT**


Dear .WS Support Team;

Today I received what seems to be a fraudulent email (extract below). If this is in fact a legitimate email, could you please explain to me how an error in the .WS registry has only been identified 2months after the registration of this domain?

Thank you kindly for your time.

Regards,
Marcus Bingemann

*********************************************************

In regards to your domain name, EXAM.WS, that domain was accidentally
released by the .WS registry due to an error in their system. Unfortunately
the .WS registry is having to return that domain back to the original owner.
My sincere apologies and if you purchased the domain from another party, you
will need to contact them for a refund. We will be refunding the party that
registered the domain directly with our system. We expect the domains will
be returned to the original owner in the next few days.

Best Regards,
Eric Asendorf
Reseller Support
480-505-8857
[email protected]

*********************************************************
-----------------




This is their reply:




********************************************************
The notice is valid. The error was brought to our attention by the original registrar.

Kindest Regards,

The .WS Support Team
********************************************************

This is outrageous - how can they just brush off customers like this?

We need to quickly put a draft letter together to send to website.ws - I will start on one latter today .... if anybody else would like to have a go at it.... or add any input then it would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards,
Marcus

 

[Dave_Z]

Sorry about what happened. But that's not really "unusual", although it's rare.

One reason why every registrar included the disclaimers and liabilities in their
Service Agreements is the unlikely (but not impossible) event that something
like this can happen. No one wants them, but technical glitches do occur.

Unfortunately this is one area that isn't easy to resolve. On the consumer side
it may appear to be, but not to the service provider.

Just about the most sensible thing a registrar can do for something like this is
to refund the money instead. In fact, there are 2 things you can be thankful
for:

1. Registrars normally don't refund except for "extenuating" circumstances like
this. Be glad they are.

2. If the registrar told the original registrant that they're "hands off", that
registrant might be forced to seek legal remedies against you.

Stupid, I know. But that's why we sometimes should thank God for small
mercies.

Just my useless 2 cents.

 

[IAmAllanShore]

If you are situated in a place that would cause great loss to you (AKA: You have developed a site and identity that cost you great time, resources, and equity) if the site is removed from your control, print off your agreement (that you probably scrolled straight through without reading, we all do ), and get a contract lawyer to check it out for you.

Not going to tell you that you have a claim, I'd have to see the agreement that you actually agreed to.

-Allan

 

[Carlton]

If you are situated in a place that would cause great loss to you (AKA: You have developed a site and identity that cost you great time, resources, and equity) if the site is removed from your control, print off your agreement (that you probably scrolled straight through without reading, we all do ), and get a contract lawyer to check it out for you.

Not going to tell you that you have a claim, I'd have to see the agreement that you actually agreed to.

-Allan

I agree with Allan's advice. This is a matter of considerable importance and is unacceptable. There are numerous situations in which their "error" could have serious ramifications to your business reputation, your cash flow, and could even create serious liability for you with potential buyers you may have courted. It's all nice when it can be resolved among cooperative parties, but you should not be expected to just roll over and absorb the various costs and inconvenience of the .ws registry's incompetence.


If you have no meaningful loss here, then you could go along with the reversal of ownership/registration. However, if this has created a problem for you, have your attorney send correspondence to all involved parties that no action whatsoever should be taken on the domain (pending further investigation) or you will pursue litigation for misrepresentation or other grounds.

P.S. It's in extremely poor taste that you were contacted regarding such an important matter via email. You damn well deserve a phone call, apology, and a detailed explanation as to how this occurred and what compensation the company is open to considering. My opinion only. Good luck.

 

[Caveman]

Here is the registration agreement from website.ws. It's too long to post, so I attached it as a .txt file.

 

[DomainOgre]

Well, I was afraid of this.

After offering a nice solution for this problem almost a month ago and getting it turned down, the buyer now thinks I should refund his money. To make matters worse, I have heard nothing from WWD or website.ws on this matter. However, this NPer was right that the domain was taken from him, because it says so in the whois.

I just want this out in the open because this is my standing policy on this issue. I have no control over whether website.ws takes a domain back or not. Therefore, I will not give refunds but I will give a .ws for the same value if wwd returns my original registration fee.

 

[dna]

I don't see why anyone should profit or lose from this situation.
DomainOgre should refund the money.
Besides, resellers who don't hold domain names long
enough to establish clear title bear some responsibility for
situations like this. Clearly if the purchase was made by credit card,
Mencus would have no problem getting his money back.

 

[DomainOgre]

I don't see why anyone should profit or lose from this situation.
DomainOgre should refund the money.
Besides, resellers who don't hold domain names long
enough to establish clear title bear some responsibility for
situations like this. Clearly if the purchase was made by credit card,
Mencus would have no problem getting his money back.

Well your first sentence makes no sense. Who do you think would lose if I paid the $35 back? I would not only be out the $35, but what I paid for the domain. I offer a way that both of us are not screwed by this mess and you expect I should give more for something I have no control over?