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Hi-Jacking Domain Names

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stevenc317

Peel'm off the Ceiling
Jun 18, 2010
36
1
First Name
Steven
#1
I have come to a very disturbing realization that many of the individuals in my industry are just plain crooks. They hold the domain names of their “customers†hostage in an effort to extort additional monies out of them. The thought of stealing a customer’s domain name or holding it hostage is so alien to the way I choose to do business, I am surprised to find that for others it is common practice.

What do you guys think about refusing to transfer a domain name to a competitor when the dealer chooses to switch providers?

I wrote a blog posting on this a few days back and would love to read your feedback at -- http://blog.auto-corner.com/post/705617531/stealing-customers-domain-names-is-just-wrong
 
#3
There would need to be some sort of regulation on it. That would be some very hard regulation to pass because it would have to deal with the whole world (unless we truly went to a specific .xxx extension per country).

In the meantime, we're just fighting with pure capitalism.
 
#4
Chip,

What has been happening is 'Dealer A' calls up 'Provider X' and says I need a website. Since 'Dealer A' does not have a website yet, 'Provider X' says no problem and registers www.DealerA.com on their behalf. This is nothing new, and it is the way just about all web providers do business.

The problem lies in the fact that our industry has a handful of "big players" that, due to their size, are forced into charging very high monthly fees. Whereas companies, such as ours, are more streamlined and are capable of charging a lower annual fee, yet still provide the same level of service. This is causing the "big players" to bleed out viciously. In an effort to protect themselves from the mass exodus, they are putting up arbitrary roadblocks by stating, "Ohh but we registered that domain, it is ours". From a legal (but not moral) standpoint there is one "big player" that does have it in their contract, but honestly how many dealers actually read their contracts. Not only is it an industry norm for most businesses, I personally feel that it is implied that the dealer would own the domain name.

Taking the dealer's domain name hostage and putting up a "This Domain Name is For Sale" is opening the provider up to a host of legal ramifications, ranging from libel, loss of business revenues, cost of reprinting business cards, billboards, signs, letter head, etc, and more.

I do not wish to name names, but one of these "big players" is currently battling a lawsuit with another "big player". It is this case that they are using as an excuse not to transfer domain names to competitors. If you are aware of the case details, the Complaint and Initial Filing are quite interesting reads. If you have no clue as to what I am talking about, some details are on Google, but the parties involved are keeping it pretty hush.
 
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#5
Alex,

I agree we are fighting capitalism. Which that in and of itself I have no objection to.

Customers need to be educated that there are a few sharks out in this industry and even if your buddy was foolish enough to signup, don't you become fish bait for them too. There are far to many better alternatives, even beyond my company. There are a handful such as AutoRevo and VinSolutions that customers have left their solutions for mine (and vice versa) and have had zero troubles at all. Then there are the other guys, that do not care about their customers, only short-term profit; that choose the less than ethical way.
 
#6
hijacking domain names: bad

Calling out your competitors surreptitiously in order to gain more customers on a popular dealer to dealer forum: also bad. (well more just annoying as it comes off as advertisement)


Personally, I own all my domain names directly. I control the A and MX records and change them when needed to switch providers. GoDaddy is pretty good on the phone too. If you don't know how to do stuff like that they can do the IT work for you while you still maintain ownership. So I definitely agree with your blog post on that one.
 
#7
ghen,

As a businessman of course I want to use the mistakes of my competitors to my advantage to increase market share. This is no different than Steve Jobs making statements of the missteps of RIM and Google when he advertises the iPhone. This aside, I do take offense to companies that think they can take advantage of their customers.

I am a computer guy and I do not feel it is right for me to take advantage over an unsuspecting customer because they do not have the experience or the knowledge in the computer field. This is no different than me taking my car to your repair shop. While I am a computer geek, I have no clue how to fix my car. I have to trust the integrity of the repair shop to give me an honest opinion as to my options.

You are a more sophisticated individual that understands how to maintain his DNS records, setting up A, CNAME, and MX records without issue. But for most dealers their eyes glaze over with just the mention of any of these 'geek terms'. It is these dealers that need to be educated, not on how to manage their own DNS records, but rather to be conscious over who actually owns their domain name. If they choose to go with a company that insists on owning the domain, the dealer should know about this at the beginning and not find it to be a surprise at the end.
 
#8
Obviously holding a domain name "ransom" is a bad thing. When I was working more as a consultant I saw a lot of hosts and service providers doing this. You can register the domain for free with their hosting package etc but go ahead and try to transfer the domain someplace or get access to it.. It took a ton of back and forth between myself and these companies to make it happen. As a consultant I would create an account at my registrar of choice for my client and register the domain in that account. Now that I am on the dealer side I run things similarly. I created the account in the name of the GM and run all domains through that account.

The reason this happens is because as its been said. Dealerships know what they need "Website" "Leads" "More Sales" and I think often overlook the details in trying to get to the "results" they need. I personally have 400+ domains and also manage everything myself its much easier that way and have never had to deal with the hijacking piece.

My suggestion, register the domain yourself, own it yourself, then just point the DNS where it needs to go and move on. If someone I was considering doing business with told me they needed to own the domain I would move on quickly. Its amazing that still flies in this business.
 
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