NSI goofs up on generic drop

[fizz]

OK, hypothetical question here.

Someone in NSI presses the wrong button and a name worth mid six figures - and regged thru 2005 - goes into the delete cycle.

Frenzied bidding follows at all the name grabbing places to around 25k.

Name deletes, grabbing firm catches name, debits 25k from top bidder's credit card, who in turn has his 15 minutes of fame.

'Former' registrant discovers loss of name, threatens to sue NSI's backside, two weeks later name is restored to original registrant with 2005 expiration date.

Does the name grabbing firm owe its top bidder his/her 25k back, or is it protected by the fact it has performed its contractural arrangement to register the name, regardless of any future legal problems one day, one week or one month later?

Who would win?

 

[RON2]

My understanding is that the drop services include one year registration in the price of their service. If they cannot or no not provide this, or the registration is deemed invalid, they would be in breach of contract and the $25k would then have to be returned.

 

[fizz]

Very good point -RJ-

 

[mole]

hahahaaa, I don't think its ever accidental.

 

[jberryhill]

"Who would win?"

The person who bothers to read and understand the terms under which the namegrabbing firm performed its services. I'm willing to bet that they have some relevant terms posted.

 

[fizz]

Originally posted by jberryhill
"Who would win?"
The person who bothers to read and understand the terms under which the namegrabbing firm performed its services. I'm willing to bet that they have some relevant terms posted.

I guess this is one of the important clauses:
"YOU AGREE THAT DOTSTER'S MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY SHALL NOT EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNT P AID BY YOU FOR REGISTRATION OF A DOMAIN NAME"

http://www.namewinner.com/nwcommon/content/disclaimer.php?PHPSESSID=7e1d87f5254a5654d4d76ecbf3ce8e7c

 

[HOWARD]

In a case similar to this one, I sued Register.com, and Afternic.com for selling my client a "stolen" domain. After the domain was transfered to my client, Verisign claimed that it had been stolen and took it back and gave it back to the "rightful Owner". The bottom line is that Afternic paid back the money to my client who then purchased the domain again from the "rightful Owner" for the same price.

 

[fizz]

Thanks Howard - I remember the very incident at Afternic and it's good to know it ended well for your client and you.

That case really opened a lot of eyes and was a turning point for Afternic's fortunes.

Your client certainly has a lot of nice domain properties ;-)

 

[dkny]

interesting case, Fizz. How did you know these inside stories?

 

[fizz]

It was back around the middle of last year dkny and was a big issue on the Afternic boards.

If I remember correctly, the 'seller' was blaming Afternic for the mix-ups and delays, and Afternic did not help its case by keeping tight-lipped about this domain name and other excellent generics that the 'seller' was auctioning off in quick succession.

Afternic should have come out publicly to explain clearly its side of things and the remedies it was working on, because its silence just made things worse for itself and they lost credibility in the eyes of its huge membership. The domain name was properties.com.

 

[mole]

If it was properties.com, then howie probably has the registrar he sued mixed up. I distinctly remembered it was Netsol that was involved, not Register.

 

[cluelessdomainer]

Howard, was that www.properties.com? my friend is familiar with that case I think.

 

[RacerX]

Originally posted by mole
If it was properties.com, then howie probably has the registrar he sued mixed up. I distinctly remembered it was Netsol that was involved, not Register.

Howard is right. Register.com owned afternic.

 

[HOWARD]

It WAS properties.com and you are partially right. We sued both Register.com AND Network Solutions.

 

[fizz]

Originally posted by RacerX
Register.com owned afternic

Afternic remains a register.com company. Register.com purchased it for $48m in September 2000, and last year apparently wrote off $32.5m in goodwill in respect of that asset.

 

[William9]

I would like to take FIZZ’s original hypothetical catch (posted at the start of this thread) one step further. Lets say FIZZ catches the hypothetical domain for $25,000 and then sell it to me for $50,000 (a $50k loan from The Duke). Fifteen minutes after that sale is completed with me – the name is restored to original registrant with a 2005 expiration date.

Help, I am out the bucks, out the domain, and looking at a contract that says FIZZ is 100% Mr. Clean. Looks like the winner would once again be Fizz.

I guess I learned a cheap lesson, next time I will supply my own contract forms in $50k purchases.

Back to Dream-catching, good luck.

 

[fizz]

I think its situations like this William9 that give attorneys plenty of billable hours, LOL.

The biggest lesson I've learned is to stay well within your means when dealing with domain purchases.

 

[William9]

FIZZ stated: “The biggest lesson I've learned is to stay well within your means when dealing with domain purchases.”

Fizz is so so correct – “Not putting all one’s eggs in one basket” or risk diversification is MORE important than potential returns or feeling good about a purchase.

Good luck

 

[DropWizard.com]

Does the name grabbing firm owe its top bidder his/her 25k back, or is it protected by the fact it has performed its contractural arrangement to register the name, regardless of any future legal problems one day, one week or one month later?

Interesting question. And one that has occurred to me.

The drop service has done its work. It doesn't look at the legal status of the domain or how it came to be deleted. Nor do we look at TM issues. Those are the clients risks.

Legally I doubt the drop service could be compelled to refund the money. 1 year registration is paid at the time the domain drops so if the central registry voids that its not like the drop service didn't provide it or fail to live up to the terms.

The whole rgp was set up to provide the owners with sufficient time to recoup any mistakes. I doubt that versign could pull back a domain now.

It's never happened to us and bottom line is I hope it never does.

 

[timechange.com]

The funny thing is that while dealing with all this selling etc of domains, the domains themselves are never owned: they are on lease from the Registry for 10 years max at a time.