Someone Robbed Me of My [Internet] Domain Name

[Kikkomann]

Sa mga iba pang web-savvy diyan (or kung sino man ang nakakaalam or may idea):

I've had my personal domain for 2 years straight, and it carries my personal name. It expired last June or July and unfortunately, I wasn't able to renew it immediately.

Then last week, I tried renewing/reapplying for it. Kaso, nabili na daw! WTF! Apparently, my domain (and my old site) has been raking hits and unique visitors so may nagka-interes. Natrace ko na yung new owner (sa US) and puro ads lang ang nilagay nila doon sa site. I know its my fault na hindi ko agad narenew pero medyo nakakaasar lang talaga kasi that domain name holds my personal mail.

Ngayon, pwede ko daw ireport sa ICANN but I am not really sure where to start. Madami naman na din daw kasing cases na ganito, na hina-hijack yung mga personal domains. Meron bang may idea kung saan ako dapat magumpisa?

TIA.

[russpogi]

Hmm... I believe you need to call your domain host. My best friend works at a domain hosting company (tama ba?). Maybe he can help you with that. PM mo na lang sya. His handle is EssB

[Kikkomann]

Hey thanks.

Actually, sabi sakin nung current host ko ngayon, possible daw na yung previous host ko yung nag-renew nung domain ko but under a different name. Minessage ko na rin sila (old host) on how I would go through about getting my domain back. Sa ngayon, ICANN na lang siguro ang last hope ko.

[russpogi]

Bad trip yan. *sigh* I hope na ma-resolve na yan with ICANN. Good luck pre!

[theveed]

Ganun po talaga pag di mo narenew intime, a cyber squatter company will get your domain and force you to buy it at a higher price.

Happened to us early this year as well.

Next time, renew early hehe. Doman hosts usually notify domain expiration 90 days in advance, don't wait until it actually expires.

[mazdamazda]

That's how way things work and what they did is legal & legitimate.

Actually, they are not interested in the hits that your website is getting. Reselling it back to you at a profit is what they are after.

Just look at it this way - you pawned your watch for P5,000 but after the payment deadline you weren't able to redeem it. So naturally the pawnshop will auction it off and someone buys it for P6,000. (You can't accuse the buyer of robbing you off your former personal property.) Now if it has a sentimental value to you you will buy it back but of course they will put a premium on it and sell it to you for P10,000.

[1D4LV]

Sa mga iba pang web-savvy diyan (or kung sino man ang nakakaalam or may idea):

I've had my personal domain for 2 years straight, and it carries my personal name. It expired last June or July and unfortunately, I wasn't able to renew it immediately.

Then last week, I tried renewing/reapplying for it. Kaso, nabili na daw! WTF! Apparently, my domain (and my old site) has been raking hits and unique visitors so may nagka-interes. Natrace ko na yung new owner (sa US) and puro ads lang ang nilagay nila doon sa site. I know its my fault na hindi ko agad narenew pero medyo nakakaasar lang talaga kasi that domain name holds my personal mail.

Ngayon, pwede ko daw ireport sa ICANN but I am not really sure where to start. Madami naman na din daw kasing cases na ganito, na hina-hijack yung mga personal domains. Meron bang may idea kung saan ako dapat magumpisa?

TIA.

actually, ganyan talaga yan as david posted. unahan ang reservation ng domain names eh, tapos unahan din ang pagbayad. if i remember it right, happened to PLDT na eh. they are supposed to use lang the http://www.pldt.com domain, pero naunahan sila ng isang idealistic association na anti-pldt monopoly. they ended up using the http://www.pldt.com.ph domain.

and style namin dito sa office is inaassume na namin yung mga pwedeng kuning domain related to the company, tapos nag susubscribe na kami for three years. so within three years, walang makakakuha ng domain na yun dahil naka reserve sa amin. whether we use it or not, it is still our company's right to use it as long as it is reserved and subscribed by us. in fact, we ended up nga with 12 domains subscribed pero isa lang ang ginagamit. before it expires, we decide here whether to continue reserving that domain, drop some of it, and create/reserve/subscribe to new domains.

hth.

[russpogi]

... if i remember it right, happened to PLDT na eh. they are supposed to use lang the http://www.pldt.com domain, pero naunahan sila ng isang idealistic association na anti-pldt monopoly. they ended up using the http://www.pldt.com.ph domain...

I remember this! hehehe! Puro PLDT bashing ang ginawa ng former owner ng pldt.com. Now, the company PLDT owns the pldt.com domain after it expired with the former anti-pldt owner. (forgot the name though)

[swordsman]

actually, ganyan talaga yan as david posted. unahan ang reservation ng domain names eh, tapos unahan din ang pagbayad. if i remember it right, happened to PLDT na eh. they are supposed to use lang the http://www.pldt.com domain, pero naunahan sila ng isang idealistic association na anti-pldt monopoly. they ended up using the http://www.pldt.com.ph domain.
hth.

OT: why then is www.pldt.com being 'forwarded' to www.pldt.com.ph? baka nag-expire na rin subscription nung mga anti-pldt, tapos subscribe agad pldt?

[russpogi]

OT: why then is www.pldt.com being 'forwarded' to www.pldt.com.ph? baka nag-expire na rin subscription nung mga anti-pldt, tapos subscribe agad pldt?

Before kse, pldt.com and pldt.com.ph are two different websites. By the time that the domain for pldt.com expired, the company PLDT got hold of it. Since the company PLDT already has a set up website, they just forwarded the pldt.com to pldt.com.ph. Same thing din sa eGroups, which was bought by Yahoo! a few years ago. If you type in egroups.com, it will direct you to groups.yahoo.com. Domain forwarding tawag sa service na to. Used to work kse sa domain name hosting company a few years back eh.

Sorry HG ang haba ng reply ko. OT ule! hehehe!

[swordsman]

I remember this! hehehe! Puro PLDT bashing ang ginawa ng former owner ng pldt.com. Now, the company PLDT owns the pldt.com domain after it expired with the former anti-pldt owner. (forgot the name though)

so there's my answer. thanks! sayang, pwede pagkakitaan yon a. hehe

[Kikkomann]

Happened to us early this year as well.

---> Papaano niyo nabawi yung domain ninyo chief?

That's how way things work and what they did is legal & legitimate.

Actually, they are not interested in the hits that your website is getting. Reselling it back to you at a profit is what they are after.

---> Yes, I know. I only used the word "robbed" because that's exactly what I felt when I received the mail from my new host telling me that my old domain is already taken. I mean, shucks, at first I thought "who would want my whole name as their domain?".

And yes, upon further investigation, I also found out that old and established TLDs like my [previous, original] domain are being sold in an auction- ranging from USD300 to 5K! So maybe, I'll just wait till next year. Baka hindi na rin nila irenew. Kahit sa U.S. pa ako nagwowork and earning USD, hindi ko pa rin papatusin raket nila. As for now, settle na lang muna ako sa .PH na domain siguro (shucks, bad trip pa dito sa atin, sobrang mahal ng local domain natin!).

actually, ganyan talaga yan as david posted. unahan ang reservation ng domain names eh, tapos unahan din ang pagbayad. if i remember it right, happened to PLDT na eh. they are supposed to use lang the http://www.pldt.com domain, pero naunahan sila ng isang idealistic association na anti-pldt monopoly. they ended up using the http://www.pldt.com.ph domain.

and style namin dito sa office is inaassume na namin yung mga pwedeng kuning domain related to the company, tapos nag susubscribe na kami for three years. so within three years, walang makakakuha ng domain na yun dahil naka reserve sa amin. whether we use it or not, it is still our company's right to use it as long as it is reserved and subscribed by us. in fact, we ended up nga with 12 domains subscribed pero isa lang ang ginagamit. before it expires, we decide here whether to continue reserving that domain, drop some of it, and create/reserve/subscribe to new domains.
hth.

Actually, yung original owner ng PLDT.COM (Philippine Lap Dance Troupe... hehehe!) eh nauna yata talaga by 1 or 2 years sa PLDT Co. sa pagpaparegister nung domain. Ngayon, siguro napagkasunduan na nila sa price kasi nare-redirect na sa PLDT.COM.PH eh. IMO, napakaslim ng chance na makalimutang iparenew ito nung previous owner. Mahina na milyon siguro ang nakuha niya doon.

Anyways, baka bayaran ko na lang nga din in advance yung pinasubscribe ko na domain ngayon. Medyo mahal kasi (Php1950/year for a .PH domain WTF) so baka sa January ko na mapaextend.

Thanks for all the replies!

[oldblue]

ph domain ba kinuha sa'yo? kung ph, malamang insider yan bebenta nga sa'yo. 1950 a year? I had our company registered sa dot.ph sa emerald 2 months back. 3500 for 2 years.

[ILuvDetailing]

Internet piracy

---> Papaano niyo nabawi yung domain ninyo chief?

I believe it was Bigberts.com...

paano nabawi? They bought it back.

Why did you get the com.ph domain? Why not get a cheaper .com domain?

And yes, upon further investigation, I also found out that old and established TLDs like my [previous, original] domain are being sold in an auction- ranging from USD300 to 5K! So maybe, I'll just wait till next year. Baka hindi na rin nila irenew. Kahit sa U.S. pa ako nagwowork and earning USD, hindi ko pa rin papatusin raket nila. As for now, settle na lang muna ako sa .PH na domain siguro (shucks, bad trip pa dito sa atin, sobrang mahal ng local domain natin!).

Yes this is the best way to handle this if you don't wanna fork out cash to buy your domain name back.

It also happened to us twice, because we forgot to renew our domain name. I believe godaddy has this auto-renew feature which is pretty usefull and you should use this if you plan to keep your domain name for a long time. I don't know about the local domain name registrars.