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decx
Premium Member
join:2002-06-07
Vancouver, BC

decx to jweidner8

Premium Member

to jweidner8

Re: Tucows/Netidentity sold my domain name

Well if you were only paying them to use the subdomain, you never had the rights to the domain (or the subdomain for that matter) to begin with. That right has always rested with the domain registrant. They probably received a large enough offer that made it worth their while to sell the domain.
jweidner8
join:2008-06-09
Kings Park, NY

jweidner8

Member

I knew there was some risk of the domain name disappearing, but I assumed they would continue their business model of providing services attached to common surnames. Well, I got 7 years of a really easy to remember email address/web site. According to a press release, it looks like they are getting out of the web hosting business too. I wonder if this is the start of a trend where they sell off their domains?

PhoenixDown
FIOS is Awesome
Premium Member
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY

PhoenixDown

Premium Member

I had a domain with them, I am glad i got it transferred out!

removed
Premium Member
join:2002-02-08
Houston, TX

removed to jweidner8

Premium Member

to jweidner8
said by jweidner8:

I wonder if this is the start of a trend where they sell off their domains?
They own the domain name, so it's their decision to make as they see fit. The domain name was never yours to begin with, and since there is no formal registration process for subdomains, you have no recourse other than buying a proper domain name for yourself.

Why didn't you just buy johnweidner.net or johnweidner.org or johnweidner.us instead of investing in this? All of these domains are available right now.
jweidner8
join:2008-06-09
Kings Park, NY

jweidner8

Member

I went into it knowing this was a risk; hopefully this will serve as a warning for other users unaware of this. Mine is just a inconvenience, but imagine a small business owner launching a site from a subdomain, advertising their site, then losing it to a competitor. Sure, it's the the business's fault, but it still sucks.

I just registered weidners.us; back in the day the Mailbank solution seemed ideal. It was cheap and my email address was as simple as can be.

craig70130
Premium Member
join:2004-04-27
New Orleans, LA

craig70130

Premium Member

Any business owner that gets into a subdomain deal like that deserves everything he/she gets.

jayco4376
Premium Member
join:2001-08-11
Lincoln, NE

jayco4376 to removed

Premium Member

to removed
said by removed:

The domain name was never yours to begin with
For what it's worth, nobody really ever really truly owns a domain name so it could happen to anybody. WIPO, DMCA, theft, and old-fashioned forgetting to renew can all lead to a loss of your domain. Sounds like Mailbank was making money off of selling services that used the domain (subdomain, email, etc.) and obviously got a better deal to sell, so who can blame them.

It certainly sucks, and it is kind of shady only giving 10 days notice. I'm sure the actual deal took longer than 10 days to put together, but Mailbank being greedy probably waited until the ink was dry to send notice out.