old MSP won't give up domain name
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@aaronstuder said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
Sue the old MSP in small claims court.
It will cost you about $75 bucks, but it will likely get you your domain back without even having to go to court.
Not sure how to determine the value. Small claims may not be the way to go. This is identity theft and could represent tens of thousands of dollars of value.
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Yet another example to reinforce the ethical standards @Bundy-Associates holds themselves to.
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@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
I was thinking a phone call or letter hinting at legal action may be enough. If they have to go to court, it would be hard not to sue for breach of contract when he charged them patching systems that haven't had patches available for 2 years.
Don't do that. Threatening legal action is always wrong unless it is a lawyer doing it.
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@scottalanmiller said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
This is identity theft and could represent tens of thousands of dollars of value.
:rolling_eyes:
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It might not be easy finding a lawyer that knows what a domain name is around here.
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@aaronstuder said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@scottalanmiller said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
This is identity theft and could represent tens of thousands of dollars of value.
:rolling_eyes:
Small claims now could limit legal options in the future.
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On second thought, a certificated letter might do the trick too. But I agree with @scottalanmiller one from a lawyer would be better
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I am not sure that the Customer can legally do anything. Old MSP could always say they were renting use of the domain name (which would be perfectly acceptable). Unless there is documentation that says 100% clearly that the Customer owns the domain name, I think legally you are in trouble.
Anyone can buy any domain name. You don't need a registered business to snag a domain name.
P.S. I would create a full backup of the website IMMEDIATELY
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@scottalanmiller I understand that, but 95% of the time it causes the other party to act right. You can always drop the case before the court date.
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@IRJ said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
I am not sure that the Customer can legally do anything. Old MSP could always say they were renting use of the domain name (which would be perfectly acceptable). Unless there is documentation that says 100% clearly that the Customer owns the domain name, I think legally you are in trouble.
Anyone can buy any domain name. You don't need a registered business to snag a domain name.
P.S. I would create a full backup of the website IMMEDIATELY
Yeah. This is what I was hinting at. Unless they have absolutely clear billing on this, they don't appear to be the owner. Vendors paying for things like this and renting them to SMBs who don't want to pay up front isn't unheard of. It's a valid business model and I've certainly seen it happen.
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@aaronstuder said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@scottalanmiller I understand that, but 95% of the time it causes the other party to act right. You can always drop the case before the court date.
I've ever tried it. The fear here is that they will lose.
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Also get another domain name and prep for a switch over. Every minute counts if they want to mitigate identity theft damage. They have to be prepared in case they lose the suit.
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Honestly instead of threating legal action, I would try to negotiate with the old MSP. Offer to pay for the remaining term of the domain name and see if they release it. ($100 or so).
I seriously would offer them money right off the bat. Sometimes it is worth paying a ransom to get out of a bad situation. Now you move on and have no reason to deal with them again.
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@IRJ said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
Honestly instead of threating legal action, I would try to negotiate with the old MSP. Offer to pay for the remaining term of the domain name and see if they release it. ($100 or so).
I seriously would offer them money right off the bat. Sometimes it is worth paying a ransom to get out of a bad situation. Now you move on and have no reason to deal with them again.
Especially if they might not really own the domain name.
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They have already paid him for the next year. He charged them $25 a domain name and registered 9 other domain names. (the .us .org .biz extensions) None of the other domain names point to the primary domain name.
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@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
They have already paid him for the next year. He charged them $25 a domain name and registered 9 other domain names. (the .us .org .biz extensions) None of the other domain names point to the primary domain name.
That is not relevant. The only thing that is relevant is what the contract billing terms said when they paid him for the domain .
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@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
They have already paid him for the next year. He charged them $25 a domain name and registered 9 other domain names. (the .us .org .biz extensions) None of the other domain names point to the primary domain name.
And? That sounds like they don't own it, just lease it. Certainly doesn't mean anything useful.
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@scottalanmiller said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
@Mike-Davis said in old MSP won't give up domain name:
They have already paid him for the next year. He charged them $25 a domain name and registered 9 other domain names. (the .us .org .biz extensions) None of the other domain names point to the primary domain name.
And? That sounds like they don't own it, just lease it. Certainly doesn't mean anything useful.
If they lease it @mike-davis has no recourse. Determining legal ownership is the next step and should be done through a lawyer.
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@scottalanmiller But they billed them for it... I guess they could claim that was a rental fee?
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Here is the obvious problem.... why would a non-registrar be paid for a domain name? If they wanted to own it they would have bought it from the registrar. The logical thing would be that they are leasing it along with management services of it, that's the only time it would make sense to pay the MSP for this annually. So this looks very bad.
