Re: [PLUG] Tracking down expired domains

["William H. Magill" <magill@mcgillsociety.org>]

On 26 Jan, 2004, at 23:14, Walt Mankowski wrote:

> I'm trying to look into what happened to a domain and website of a
> church group my mom belongs to.  Apparently the guy who registered the
> domain and created the website took ill and no one's been able to
> get ahold of him.  The web server is offline, and now the domain
> registration has expired as well.
>
> When I first looked into this a few months ago, there was a listing in
> whois for the domain (cdapa.org).  I was planning on contacting the
> domain registrar to see if they knew anything about it, but now when I
> run "whois cdapa.org" is just returns "NOT FOUND".
>
> I'm thinking at this point that they're screwed, but I'd at least like
> to try to get ahold of the original domain registrar.  Is there
> any way to find out who it used to be registered to?

Under the new registration rules, a domain name is up for grabs when is 
it is not renewed by the expiration date.

... no grace period....

If the name is not registered, you simply register it. Then you're the 
owner of the domain.
Just pick your favorite cheap registrar.  Which one doesn't matter all 
that much as they change very frequently. (Like annually, when the 
primary contracts come up.)

If this seems a bit cut-throat -- it is. (The competition to be a 
Registrar is actually pretty fierce. Evidently there is some pretty 
good money to be made. The competency of the Registrar or the 
service(s) they provide is probably item number 7 or 8 on the list of 
evaluation criteria.) It's especially hard on non-profits like yours 
who "have no clue," and don't really care in the first place. ... but 
then again, they don't care so it doesn't matter anyway.

As for the website -- it was probably sitting wherever it was being 
hosted until the bill stopped getting paid. Then it probably got wiped.


T.T.F.N.
William H. Magill
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magill@mcgillsociety.org
magill@acm.org
magill@mac.com

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