Feeling Safe about the Keeper of Domain Names

January 31, 2001 7:39 AM

Feeling Safe about the Keeper of Domain Names Anyone notice that at least at 10:30am EST that Network Solutions homepage brings up an Error page? Doesn't that make us all feel safe. And then there was the Registrars.com registrar transfer form which didn't think the domain I was trying to transfer had been registered (but if you used their WHOIS it showed it was).
posted by matte (17 comments total)

Speaking of ole Network solutions, does anybody know how long it usually takes before a domain name that has expired goes back on the market?


posted by kevincmurphy at 8:22 AM on January 31, 2001

There is a class action lawsuit pending right now about that very issue, because NetSol has been holding back on the expired domains.

The quick answer -- they go on the market when NetSol is good and ready, and too bad for you if you want it before they want to make it available.
posted by Dreama at 8:30 AM on January 31, 2001

Yeah, there's an older article on the subject that says netsol holds on to certain domain names even past their expiration rate. This was related to a plan they had earlier last year (but never implemented?) to auction off domains after they'd expired. Of course, everyone saw right through that one..
posted by zempf at 8:35 AM on January 31, 2001

An error page? So what? It happens. These are computers, you know.
posted by amanda at 8:40 AM on January 31, 2001

While I admit that computers do screw up (or people screw up computers) one has to wonder, with the daisy-chain nature of the whole domain-dns-web-internic thing, that if you can't make changes to hosting without making changes to your records, and you can't make those records because a site is down, then the world sort of spirals into redundant crap.

Enough said. My first post here and I don't feel proud.
posted by matte at 9:09 AM on January 31, 2001

Can't imagine why anyone would still deal with Network Solutions. Domain Monger might be a little low rent, but then, the rent is pretty low! A mere $17 for a year, or $33 for two.

And you can now transfer your domains off of the inexplicably expensive registrars, provided, I think, the domain hasn't expired yet.
posted by crunchland at 9:26 AM on January 31, 2001

I've used joker.com for the three domains that I own, and have had absolutely no problem with them at all. Sure, their grasp of the English language leaves a little to be desired, but for $11/year it's hard to go wrong.
posted by zempf at 9:42 AM on January 31, 2001

I can totally relate on the domain availability. A domain I was interested in expired on January 10th. I checked every single day afterwards, and only today did the domain name get renewed... and now it's locked till 2004, the bastards. Incompetence, incompetence, incompetence... I can't help but wonder if Best Buy owns NetSol.

I had called NetSol's "friendly" customer support number and asked what the policy was on expired domains. "We delete them in batches of 500," the operator told me, "and we can't give you any estimate on what number we're at now, or when the domain you want will become available."

I have used the registration services of both WebServePro (my hosting service) and DotEasy with no problems. I also registered a slew of names at register.com but, of course, they tend to suck.
posted by hijinx at 9:55 AM on January 31, 2001

Of course, hijinx, such a grace period might be considered a feature rather than a bug ... by the domain owner.
posted by dhartung at 10:03 AM on January 31, 2001

I'm merciless when it comes to that stuff. :)
posted by hijinx at 10:19 AM on January 31, 2001

I was about to say the same thing, the fact they don't release them right away may suck for potential buyers, but it makes me feel safer about my domains with them in case I ever mess up and don't re-register fast enough.

I have gotten to the point where I'm just buying domains through whatever place I think is least likely to mess me up, which right now is Dotster (I used to use joker,which is cheaper, but I'm uneasy about them after trying to get some help with an issue a while back. They didn't mess anything up, but they did take 2 weeks to get back to me, and I didn't feel like phoning Germany) who have okay prices and whose site/system suggests the people in charge aren't complete knobs and have put some thought into it.
posted by beefula at 10:33 AM on January 31, 2001

I've been using Gandi for a while with great results. I did have to make a phone call to France but I did it very early in the morning (overnight rates) and darnit, it gave me a chance to practice my rusty French skills.
posted by Dreama at 10:36 AM on January 31, 2001

I'll second the Joker.com recommendation, I have several domains registered with them. A friend of mine also swears by Dotster.
posted by kindall at 11:54 AM on January 31, 2001

I have to give redirection.net a plug here, I've registered a lot of domain names there and never had a problem
posted by Outlawyr at 12:00 PM on January 31, 2001

And what happens, perchance, to your domains with the registrar that goes out of business in a year because of their cheapo $11 charges?? The joy (or agony, depending on how you look at it) at moving them to another registrar PDQ! No thanks, I'll stick with the people who at least have a solid track record of being in business longer than a few months.
posted by yarf at 2:07 PM on January 31, 2001

Joker is a reseller of domains for CORE, and presumably if Joker went out of business another CORE reseller (or CORE itself) would take over your domain. In any case, your registrar doesn't run the root nameservers so even if they go out of business your domain should still work. The primary business of a registrar being to expire domains so they can be paid for every year, there might even be some chance that your domain will be good forever if your registrar goes out of business.

(I really doubt Joker was selling domains in 1995; no one but Network Solutions was even permitted to do it until, what, 1999?)
posted by kindall at 4:17 PM on January 31, 2001

Kindall, that applies to com/org/net TLDs. Joker is actually CSL GmbH, which was a founding member of DeNIC, which has been in charge of German registrations since at least 1996. I believe the DeNIC plan was considered a model for distributed registration at the global level.
posted by dhartung at 7:30 PM on January 31, 2001