Domain name lapsed and taken by Chinese site - what can I do? [closed]
For well over a decade I have had a domain name of the form myfullname.com. I am an academic and I had a simple static site there that listed my publications and gave an outline of my research.
I last updated it probably a year or two ago, and I haven't looked at it since then, but it's been in my email signature for years. Just now I looked at it, and discovered that it no longer displays my web site but a generic site in Chinese, which appears to contain links to porn sites. A whois search reveals that it's owned by www.maff.com, which appears to be a Chinese domain name registration site.
The payments for my domain used to go out automatically and I never paid a lot of attention to them, but it now seems the last one was in 2016. The registration site I was using, 123reg.co.uk, seems to have forgotten that I exist, in that none of my email addresses seem to be associated with an account there.
My question is simply whether there is anything I can do. I have a fairly unusual first name and surname, and it's inconceivable that anyone would actually want to use this domain name, apart from me or 10 or so other people who happen to share my name. Is this just a case of forget about it and register another domain, or is there anything I can do to get it back?
Solution 1:
Well that's officially a mess. I can tell you this won't be easy.
First off, I'm not a lawyer. I am an IT professional and I do manage my own domain names and dns. I have never had to dispute an unauthorized transfer or a domain deletion before. But I've taken some time to do some digging for you.
123reg is going to argue that you've missed the Redemption Grace Period and thus it's out of their hands. You need to prove that they failed to meet their ICANN-mandated responsibilities in regards to notifying you about the impending expiration of your registration and/or the renewal policies and/or notification policies of their own subscriber agreement/terms of service.
The first thing you need to do is dig up bank records and invoices from the 2017 (I assume) missed renewal. You need proof that you either weren't charged or you were charged and paid for the renewal. That would be your smoking gun to use against 123reg.co.uk. Make a copy of all communications you have had with them... all service notices they may have emailed you or sent via snail mail. Don't have them? Well, let this be a lesson... you have gigabytes of email storage space for a reason. Find out if the domain is currently for sale and how much their asking price is. There is likely a method of contacting the current registration holder somewhere in the fine print on that porn-link page you mentioned... they are using the porn-links (which mostly link to other porn-link pages in an endless circle) to generate traffic and keep the value of the domain from declining. Find records of every business opportunity or personal opportunity that didn't work out where you sent an email to them with that signature. The more information you have for the next step, the better.
Next, hire a lawyer. Don't argue, just do it. You need to understand that 123reg is in a really tough spot and the best thing they can do, generally speaking, is ignore you. If they side with you, what then? What about the current registration holder's claim to the domain? It's been two years! Who's the chump that didn't even know he lost the domain? You! No one is gonna think worse of them if they do nothing. But if they go trying to take back that domain it's going to set off alarms all over.
You need leverage. You need to apply leverage to make sure it stops being a good idea to ignore you. The lawyer will tell you what options, if any, you have in the legal sphere... this is your leverage. Companies shrug off irate customers every single day but no company in their right mind shrugs off a potential lawsuit without their own lawyer's say-so.
Have the lawyer familiarize themself with ICANN's policies, Particularly:
- Expired Registration Recovery Policy
- Expired Domain Deletion Policy
- Registrar Accreditation Agreement
- any other ICANN policies they feel is relevant.
Both 123reg.co.uk and XZ.com (www.maff.com redirects to their page) are ICANN accredited, meaning they agreed to these policies.
Have the lawyer instruct you on what to do next, most likely contacting 123reg and giving them a chance to begin a dispute through ICANN or to cover the cost of buying back the domain themselves (assuming the current Registered Name Holder is willing to sell).
If you manage to get the domain back find yourself a better registrar, ASAP. The good ones aren't cheep... but they don't make these kinds of mistakes either.