Domains Held Hostage!

Howdy folks!

You know, there’s a lot of good hosts out there, but there are a few who use some pretty bad tactics. Every person who orders hosting needs a domain name, and some people will buy the domain through the host. Some hosts put your information in the whois, and some other hosts put their information in. The whois information defines who is the owner of the domain, regardless of who paid for it. So, if it’s the host’s information, then guess what? They are the owner of the domain. What do you think could happen if you try to leave, and the host owns your domain? Most would give you the domain and it wouldn’t be a problem, but other times, they might would hold it hostage, and make you stay as their customer in order to keep it. Not all hosts do this, and some hosts do this accidentally. I know a host or two that has disappeared due to some problems, and they still owned some domains and the customers had no way to retrieve them. This is definitely another thought to consider when buying a domain or hosting. If you don’t buy your domain Godaddy.com or something similar, and you do buy it through the host, make sure that your information is in the whois. Make sure you’re the owner. There are quite a few people who have gotten burned by this. If you want to check your whois to make sure it’s right, check out www.whois.ws. They’ve got a nice interface, and it’s pretty clear.

I hope this helps, and possibly saves some aggravation!

Thanks!

Tag: go daddy

I wasn’t impressed Godaddy and their hosting. Domain names are fine with Go daddy, but for hosting, I wouldn’t touch them with a 10 foot pole. Read my Godaddy review.