Your domain name may not be registered properly !

It has come to our attention that some domain name hosts and web page designers seem to have developed a bad practice of registering Domain Names for their customers in a way that could cause the affected companies significant problems with their domain name in the future.

This improper registration practice is very similar to putting money into a checking account and then giving all of the signature authority to some individual or company, who is not related to the company in any way. I know of very few companies who would allow this to happen except in unusual circumstances. Cash is a company asset, which should be guarded and controlled within the company.

Domain names are valuable company assets. They are generally worth far more than the $35 per year (or $12.95 per year if you register through www.OnDomains.com) it costs to maintain the domain name registration. As top-level domain names become more scarce, that value will continue to increase. Yet some companies have unknowingly given away almost all the control of their domain names to their web page host, Internet service provider or web page designer.

TopHosts, a recognized authority on web hosting, states the following:

Be the "master of your domain"

Query the Whois database (www.dnsstuff.com) to ensure that your company is both the administrative and technical contact for your domain. If your host is listed as both of these contacts, it is the registrant of the domain, not you. Unless you are the registrant, your domain could be held for ransom if there is a dispute between you and your host.

What should you do?

If you have a Domain Name that you believe to be owned and controlled by your company, you should check to see how that domain name is registered. If you do not have a copy of the original paperwork sent out by Network Solutions, you should get a copy from either the Technical Contact, the Administrative Contact, or www.dnsstuff.com (There are now many companies handling domain name registrations, such as www.OnDomains.com).

Also, Click Here, enter your company’s domain name (for example "centralvirginia.net - leave off the "www.") in the "whois" box. When you get the results, print and/or save them with your domain name records. Sometimes you will need to go to the registrar's website (enom.com, networksolutions.com or register.com or dotster.com, for example) if the detailed information is only available from the registrar. Most major registrars will have a "WhoIs" link or search box somewhere on their website.

Here is what you should find when you look up your company’s domain name:

If you want us to do this for you, please call 434-385-1654 or email us using the form at 123Call.Us. If you want us to Fax the results to you, please include your Fax number.

Registrant: This should be the owning entity’s legal name (corporate name, individual name, or other legal entity). This should not be a trade name or a D.B.A. (Doing business as). It should never be the name of your website host or website designer unless you have a clear understanding that you do not own the name you are using and there is some compelling reason why you have chosen not to own this domain name.

Back to "What should you do?"

Administrative Contact: This should generally be someone (or a position, like president or vice-president) with authority to make policy decisions for the company or individual who is the owner of the domain name. It should NOT be the same person as the technical contact unless the registrant is an individual also acting as the website’s host.

Technical Contact: This contact is generally the person or department responsible for the technical aspects of the server hosting the site. If your website is hosted on an internal server, this is generally the Network Administrator. If your site is hosted by an outside website host, their name will generally appear here.

Billing Contact: This is the person or department (for example, Accounts Payable) who will be responsible for paying for the domain name registration fee each year. This person has no authority to request that the domain name be moved or the registration changed. It is a bad sign if this is the only contact within your company, since the billing contact has no authority over the domain name.

Back to "What should you do?"

It is VERY important that you understand that either the Administrative Contact or the Technical Contact can authorize moving your domain name to another server. If the other contact person does not object, your domain name can be moved. Obviously, if both of these contacts are the same person, there will be no objections! Either contact can object to the transfer, but greater weight is given to the administrative contact, especially when the administrative contact is employed by the Registrant (see above).

What this means is that if they (the Administrative Contact or the Technical Contact are both the same individual, you have effectively given that one individual the authority to move your domain name to another location without your company’s permission. That one person can also stop or delay a move you would like to make to another website host.

Our company recently witnessed this happen to a local company. They decided to move from one website host to another. It should have been a simple move. The move was anything but simple. Instead of taking a few days it took almost two weeks. To make matters worse, their website with their old host (who was not pleased about the move and who had control of their domain name as both the administrative and technical contact) had taken their website off of their old server. They actually had no website for about a week. That may not sound too bad, but it is. They will have to resubmit to almost every search engine, because the chances are that their site was dropped from any search engine that happened to visit them (called "spidering") while their site was not available. They also lost both business and credibility during that week. It took several angry calls to the former hosting provider to get them to respond to the registrar’s emails regarding the site move. This company was lucky. The former host could have done far more damage.

It is in your company's best interest to be informed about domain name rules and regulations. If you have questions about any of this, please call us at 434-385-1654 or send your question by using the form at 123Call.Us. We will be happy to clarify or explain any point which is unclear or confusing.

Back to Accounting and Computer Enterprises, Inc.

Web Hosting