Many companies buy domains from various sources. Some buy them from their web designers as a package with their design fees, some people buy them from their hosting providers, some people buy them themselves online. There are also those who buy it from their hardware vendor or maybe even a yellow pages directory service. But what happens if any of these resellers or companies go out of business? Who will process your domain renewal? Will you lose your domain if the company closes or stops responding? This article attempts to explain how you can avoid losing your domain when your domain provider or reseller goes out of business.
Keep your WHOIS information up to date
The most important factor in determining ownership of a domain is the WHOIS information stored with the domain name registrar. We often buy domains from domain registrar brokers or resellers. While resellers may offer you an exceptionally good price, they may not give you control of your domain name. This means that you are at their mercy for everything that has to do with your domain. One thing to make sure, whoever buys the name, that the domain must be registered in the name of the true owner or the person authorized by the true owner. This authorized person could include a company officer or agent, the CEO, or even an IT manager. But it definitely shouldn’t be the web designer, an intermediary or even an employee of the provider. This will ensure that when you want to take control of your domain name or transfer it at any time, if you send mail from your registered email address and are in control, the registrar will help you take control of your domain name. If you don’t have control of your domain name and your provider goes out of business, it will be quite difficult for you to prove that you own the domain name.
Keep domain control in your hands
As soon as your domain is registered, or soon after, you should insist on having the details from the Domain Name Control Panel. This should include the login name, password, and the URL where you can log in from. As soon as you receive these details, you should test them and check if your domain can be managed with those login details. You should also change your password for that control panel and only share the details with those you trust. You don’t need to give the web designer or hosting company access to the domain control panel unless you want them to manage the account. If they wanted to make changes to your domain name’s DNS entries or pointers, they can always guide you on how to do it. You can also get help from your domain name provider to guide you on how to make the changes.
Domain registrar to the rescue
If you end up having no idea about your provider, or if your provider is unresponsive or has closed shop, there is still hope. You can always contact a higher authority, ie the domain registrar. The Domain Registrar receives a license from ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) to sell domain names. These Registrars, in turn, are additional resellers or sellers, from whom you may have purchased the names at retail. In the rare event that a Registrar goes bankrupt or goes out of business, all of your domains are automatically transferred to a new registrar and all domain owners are informed of this. This means that your domain will always be under one registrar no matter what. The registrar is required to follow some rules and regulations and will cooperate with you if you can prove that you are the true owner of the domain. In general, if you want to make changes to the domain name’s WHOIS records, but have lost access to the control panel, you can always fax your proof of identity to the registrar and gain access to domain control after some paperwork. If the domain registrar becomes difficult or unresponsive, you can escalate the matter as a complaint to ICANN. This way, you know for sure that your domain name will never be lost, if you take the right steps.
