Help with MyDomain.com Stealing my Domains!

[4uq.com]

Hello all,

I have been having this ongoing problem with MyDomain.com stealing my domains. Their written policy is that if your domain expires you have 30 days to register it or it then goes into another 30 day period where they can charge about $125 to get it back.

Lately I have been tight with cash and so have let several domains go into the first 30 day expired status. Now most all of them are fine and I can register them in a week or so after they have expired and all is well. However, I have had several domains (that I paid a lot of money for) that as soon as they expire they disappear from my domain panel and each time within 6 days after expiration exactly, they turn up for sale by someone else.

When I contact MyDomain.com about the "theft" they say that it is up to them what they do. That even though their own policy says different, they have the right by ICANN to immediately take a domain upon expiration.

They only do this with high profile domains. Is there anything I can do about this? Has anyone else had this problem with mydomain.com or any other registrar? Does anyone know if this is illegal or in violation of ICANN rules?

I have a number of domains with them and I don't have the money to transfer them all out yet. I have been out of work for about a year and just got a job again. I will get the rest out in about 2 months, but for now, anyone have any ideas on what I can do about this?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[dejanlesi]

I dont know about the legality of their doing but i would say stick to bigger registrars like Dynadot. Dynadot is in my opinion the best one out there. I have domains at all the biggest registrars and to date i like dynadot the most..

 

[4uq.com]

OK, I have a little progress on this issue. Apparently Icann has no 'teeth' regarding registrar conduct. I talked with an ICANN rep and she said that little if anything can be done about domain stealing or any other conduct by a registrar. She said that it would take a very long time before they would even consider revoking a registrars accreditation and even after that the registrar can still continue to operate. Her advice was civil litigation which is about $15k just to start and the registrars know that most will never do that, so they get away with piracy.

I was successful in getting back the last domain name Mydomain.com stole. I was very surprised to say the least. With every other domain, they told me to go pound salt. For some reason this time they returned it to my panel and I could renew it. I still have a dozen others they would not return (they were much more valuable).

I talked with my local District Attorney and they are willing to investigate the matter. The DA said that minimally there is bad faith involved and possibly because there are multiple entities involved in the process and the large sums of money involved that conspiracy to defraud, racketeering and a few other criminal charges might be considered.

The DA asked me to locate others that have had the same thing happen as this would support moving the investigation forward.

I talked with an attorney who does class action suits and he said to try and find others that have been defrauded in the same or similar way and they will consider starting a class action suit against multiple registrars for multiple plaintiffs.

Apparently, MyDomains.com, Dotregistrar.com and Dotster.com are all one in the same or at least connected administratively and operationally. Dotregistrar.com has done the exact same thing with my domains before.

I have so little interest or time to get involved with all this but their actions are so criminal that I feel very compelled to follow through on this.

If the DA actually brings charges against them, that will expedite the matter and make my job a lot easier.

Anyway, if any of you have had a similar situation with any registrar please PM me. I have a list of others I am building that have had domains taken prior to the 30 days after expiration. The common thread to these thefts is the perceived value of the domains.

Thanks

Dotster.com Registrar.com MyDomains.com steals Domain Names

 

[DomainsInc]

be sure to renew your most important domains before they expire. even if this means borrowing money. yes, they do sell certain domains and they disappear pretty quick. sometimes if you call them and complain enough you can get it back but don't expect them to do it more than once.

 

[James]

perhaps related http://www.dnforum.com/f557/anyone-know-company-thread-383314.html

Okay it was Dotster.com. They also took one of my clients domains as well on the day it expired and "sold" the name on the same day. I believe he now has his attorney involved as well.

Posted via Mobile Device

 

[stewie]

There is three things you can do.

1)Transfer
2)Transfer
3)Transfer

Good Luck

 

[4uq.com]

James, thank you for the link. I got a few more people today that have had the same thing happen to them. I think there are hundreds if not thousands of people that this has happened to.

If anyone has any bright ideas on how to find these people let me know.

BTW, apparently there is a major investigation going on (state(s) and federal) regarding Registrar illegal activities, scams, racketeering and conspiracy and indictments are coming soon to a registrar near you. Their greed is about to catch up with them. I have been told that if you have had only one domain taken by a registrar this way, that as part of the criminal proceedings and for their betrayal of trust and bad faith, that ALL your registration fees for every domain registration you have ever paid to them, might have to be paid back to you. Also, they may have to re-purchase at whatever price they have to pay in order to get back ANY domain you want back, that they took under these circumstances. This could amount to many tens of thousands of dollars for some domain holders.

Also, I have it that the feds are going after anyone at the management level and up at these registrars, with knowledge of these actions and they are going to file very serious criminal charges individually and collectively.

They are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars embezzled from clients. This could turn out to be one of the largest conspiracies we have seen for some time.

If you have any domain that you purchased that was obtained from someone’s account in this fashion Hold On to it. If this goes down the way it looks, you will be able to name your asking price and they will have to pay it.

I hope it goes very bad for any registrar that resorted to these tactics. I have no sympathy for them at all. We hire them and pay a good fee for them to secure and protect our assets and investments and they turn around and violate that trust and steal from us where ever and whenever they can. All over their sites they have phrases like ‘secure’ and ‘protected’ and the truth is that the biggest threat to your assets is from the very people you have hired and paid to secure your assets and not others.

I have it also that the entities that end up with the domains, the ones selling the stolen domains, are also in it deep. Apparently many of the registrars are ‘hiding’ the true relationship they have with these companies or the fact that they actually own, control or have an interest in these entities.

Lots of dirty little secrets by lots of dirty little people.

It’s almost laughable how stupid the criminal and greedy think. Their greed always drives them to do such stupid things. Many small fortunes can and are made by the honest and ethical Registrars. Yet these greedy Registrars can’t help but rob people just because they can. They will have to make huge amends, with cold hard cash or for some, with their freedom, for their greed and their crimes against their clients.

If you work for and/or are associated with any Registrar that obtains domains this way (and so have knowledge and/or are part of the act) then I suggest you run not walk to your nearest civil authority and make a plea bargain to save your skin. And, you better do it now. When the shoe drops it will be too late.

This should get real interesting folks.