domains held hostage

[lika1961]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have knowledge on the legal situation of a hosting company refusing to transfer domains where no money is outstanding?

I have a number of domains that are hosted by a small hosting company. There is a dispute on a specific outstanding amount on one of the domains. It seems fair enough that that specific domain will not be transferred because of this outstanding amount.

They are however refusing to transfer all my other domains as well. To my mind that would be illegal as the only reason for not releasing them could be non-payment.

Any thoughts?

 

[DJ...]

What do their terms and conditions state? This should be covered there...

 

[Idiosyncratic]

What do their terms and conditions state? This should be covered there...

I agree, have a look there - I'm afraid that should be your first port of call... It's unethical, yes, but this is a cutthroat business. But why is it such a big deal for you not to pay the outstanding amount anyway? Bad service on their part?

 

[lika1961]

They never supplied terms and conditions and yes, extreme bad service on their part. The disputed amount is to do with an abortive website build. I have handed the dispute to my lawyer to handle, so no payment is possible at the moment, even if I wanted to.

The domain hosting is paid up to date (even on the one with the dispute) and I have zero balance invoice to prove it. My question is whether they can refuse to release 4 fully paid up domains over 1 fully paid up one where there is a legal dispute.

 

[DJ...]

They never supplied terms and conditions and yes, extreme bad service on their part. The disputed amount is to do with an abortive website build. I have handed the dispute to my lawyer to handle, so no payment is possible at the moment, even if I wanted to.

The domain hosting is paid up to date (even on the one with the dispute) and I have zero balance invoice to prove it. My question is whether they can refuse to release 4 fully paid up domains over 1 fully paid up one where there is a legal dispute.

Handed over payment for a domain to your lawyer? You're going to fork out more for the lawyer (far more by the way) than simply paying the damn domain. Surely there are standard terms and conditions available on their website or linked from their invoices or agreements?

 

[Mekon]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have knowledge on the legal situation of a hosting company refusing to transfer domains where no money is outstanding?

I have a number of domains that are hosted by a small hosting company. There is a dispute on a specific outstanding amount on one of the domains. It seems fair enough that that specific domain will not be transferred because of this outstanding amount.

They are however refusing to transfer all my other domains as well. To my mind that would be illegal as the only reason for not releasing them could be non-payment.

Any thoughts?

If they are the title holders of the domain then you might have a problem. A lot of companies purchase domains on the
clients behalf but it is registered with the hosting company.

Go here. https://www.registry.net.za/whois/ you will be able to see if it's registered in your name or the hosting company.

 

[lika1961]

No, I have handed the payment for the abortive website build over to my lawyer.
All the domains are paid up. I have a zero balance invoice.
They are refusing to release the domains because of the outstanding money regarding the abortive website build.

 

[Idiosyncratic]

No, I have handed the payment for the abortive website build over to my lawyer.
All the domains are paid up. I have a zero balance invoice.
They are refusing to release the domains because of the outstanding money regarding the abortive website build.

Shucks, this is what really frustrating for me. The web development companies charge large quantities of money for websites that really don't deliver on their promises... Many operate on the assumption that the customer isn't knowledgeable enough to know the web development world. You sometimes wonder whether this cutthroat industry will ever see change.

 

[Domains.co.za (Wayne)]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have knowledge on the legal situation of a hosting company refusing to transfer domains where no money is outstanding?

I have a number of domains that are hosted by a small hosting company. There is a dispute on a specific outstanding amount on one of the domains. It seems fair enough that that specific domain will not be transferred because of this outstanding amount.

They are however refusing to transfer all my other domains as well. To my mind that would be illegal as the only reason for not releasing them could be non-payment.

Any thoughts?

@lika1961

The Registrant name and Registrant email address should be that of the domain owner (presuming yours), if however this is in the name of the hosting company they would technically be in breach of the of the ZACR Registry / Registrar policies.

If the email address is yours, you can simply do a domain transfer via any ZACR accredited Registrar, you will receive a transfer email that you can accept and the domain will transfer almost immediately.

 

[Thor]

@lika1961

The Registrant name and Registrant email address should be that of the domain owner (presuming yours), if however this is in the name of the hosting company they would technically be in breach of the of the ZACR Registry / Registrar policies.

If the email address is yours, you can simply do a domain transfer via any ZACR accredited Registrar, you will receive a transfer email that you can accept and the domain will transfer almost immediately.

This^

@lika1961


Open an account with domains.co.za put in the transfer, you will receive a email accept it and the domain is in your control again.

IF however the hosting company registered the domain in their name... then... you have a problem