WARNING…
This information affects your future on the Internet.

There is a secret war going on over the rights to your
Domain Name. Your Domain Name rights are currently
being ripped off by the major Domain Name registration
giants. This rip-off is affecting your Domain rights NOW!

Your Domain Name can become a casualty of the Domain
Name Registrar’s Renewal War.
Reading this article and understanding your Domain Name
rights can prevent you from losing your Domain Name
altogether, and can at least save you about 50% on your
Domain Name renewal.

This is real and it is scary. As to not mislead you, I am
Tag Powell, CEO of DomainNameVault.com, and I have
been drafted into this battle against my will.
DomainNameVault.com and our service
Renew-Your-Domain-Name.com is on one side of this war.
We do have a vested interest in this battle’s outcome.

First, let me give you the short background story to get you
up to speed.

Until a couple of years ago ALL Domain Names had
been registered and managed by one company, Network
Solutions. Network Solutions made billions of dollars on
this market for years. All .COM, .ORG, .NET Domains
were held in one master database exclusively under
their control. They, as a monopoly, could charge anything
they desired. Originally they charged $50.00 per year
(two year minimum). Then after registering millions of
Domains and fielding massive complaints of over-charging,
they graciously reduced the fee to $35.00 per year (two
year minimum).

For the first few years, Network Solutions did a good
job, but as the Internet mushroomed the database
problems grew. Hackers entered the database and
caused problems. Domain ownership’s were illegally
changed. Other Domain Names were rerouted to open
to other companies. Domain Name security became a
joke. Trying to get through to Network Solutions was a
nightmare, getting email answered took weeks and
they were often ignored completely, and getting through
by phone took days. We speak from experience as
we have been assisting Domain registrations since
1995. We helped Network Solutions register many
hundreds of thousands Domain Names.

By the way, it still could take hours today to get
a phone answer from Network Solutions.

A couple of years ago the government, after many
public complaints, broke up the monopoly to
exclusively register and renew Domain Names
in to the master database. This gave the public,
for the first time, the right to chose who would
manage their Domain Name.

New rules allowed applications from other
companies to manage new Domain Name
registration and renewals into the master database.
After a serious background check and a lot of money
some of these companies (over a hundred to date) are
allowed to become registrars, and are able to add and
subtract Domain information to the master database.

This new ruling allowed our company to put Domain
info in and take information out of that master database
for our clients, and we are also allowed to set our own
prices for this service.

(Instead of the Network Solutions’ charge of $35.00
(per year) for .COM, .ORG, .NET Domains and $55.00
for .BIZ and .INFO Domains, our fee is only $19.95
per year for all extensions.)

Shortly after the breakup Network Solutions was sold
to VeriSign Corp., a giant multi-conglomerate. At this
point their policies seem to have degraded to several
quasi legal processes. I can only suppose that suddenly
VeriSign must have become aware that millions of their
clients (the same clients they had paid big bucks to
collect the yearly fees from) were transferring (renewing)
through other registrars. This will cost them millions.

VeriSign filed a complaint with ICANN, the official ruling
body over Domain Names, that the competition (they
named Register.com and our partner Tucows) was
“slamming” and stealing Domain Name management
against the will of the public. “Slamming” as you may
know is an expression of the illegal process of switching
telephone companies without the permission of
the customer.

Please note, although I am sure that “slamming” is
probably taking place in this industry, I know of NO
case where this is true. Certainly “slamming” is NOT
being done by our partner Tucows and probably not by
Register.com. Network Solutions’ case (complaint) was
based on a survey they did of clients requesting Domain
Name transfers for renewal.

They sent an email message informing the Domain Name
owners (you) that your Domain Name was being (stolen)
transferred away; they could lose their rights to their
Domain; and did they request a transfer to an unknown
party? Most of the public had no idea who was Network
Solutions or who held management of their Domain Name.
Out of fear and misunderstanding of the message, most
said they did not know that their Domain Name was being
transferred to another party.

To prevent this mass exodus Network Solutions seems
to have develop several quasi legal techniques: put off the
renewal process until the name is close to expiration, they
can then legally lock up the Domain and prevent you from
transferring away from their control.

They do this, by at least two ways we know.
When Network Solutions receives the notice of
transfer, they…

1. Sent a notice that someone is trying to transfer
your name.
You will get the feeling that someone is trying to steal
your Domain. This frightens most people who respond
to not approve of the transfer (or do they nothing).
Network Solutions then sends an email telling the
renewing registration company that the Domain owner
refused to reply (timed out) and the transfer
was canceled.

2. Somehow don’t send the required notices. They say
they did not receive an answer and lock up the name.
The Domain Name owner must now quickly renew with
them or the Domain Name goes up for resale.

This is borderline honest but… YES, the plot thickens.

When a Domain Name nears renewal time Network
Solutions will lock up the Domain Name and not
transfer it. If a transfer has been requested, using
one of the above rip-off techniques, Network Solutions
denies the transfer. Then they will quickly immediately
after the expiration date, offer the Domain Name for
resale on one of their many sites. If they can not sell
the name (after an unknown time) the Domain Name
will then be available to the general public.

This problem swells when somehow the Domain owner
requesting a transfer does not receive notice. Without
notification their name can be resold to a third party.
Bam… the total rights to their Name belongs to the
third party. Although this is legal, it is not fair. We have
seen this happen several times. They seem to only
cancel quickly if a transfer has been requested.
We have seen expired Domain Names sit for as much
as four months before cancellation.

There are several other nasty quasi legal tricks being
performed by Network Solutions. We will get into these
at another time.

Our partners, Tucows, have filed an official complaint
to the governing body, ICANN, against Network Solutions
for these and other borderline practices but it will take
months before this is resolved.

The Bottom Line.
You have the right to chose who manages your Domain
Name in the master database.
You can reduce the yearly cost of your Domain Names
by 50%, but you should renew at least a month before
expiration date. In fact, you can renew at any time with
no loss and the renewal is added to your current
expiration date. You can renew a year or two years in
advance with no loss of time. A month before expiration
date will give you time to get by the tricks of Network
Solutions. Do not wait, if your Domain expires in a
week, it is too late to transfer. You can pay Network
Solutions for one year only. They will try to get you to
renew for two years. You can then choose a new
registrar and get your Domain Name management moved.

Blatant Plug…
Of course, there are benefits with going with a smaller
company. You can get a real email answer from us as
to your Domain problems within 24 hours. We do not
use autoresponders to reply. You can get us on the
phone between 1 and 5 P.M. EST, most time on the
first try. Please call us with only Domain problems we
have registered or renewed.

At DomainNameVault.com our security is unique, a
human firewall, all of our registrations and renewals
are hand processed by a live body. This prevents
hackers from getting control of your Domain through
the automatic processing.

Really, it doesn’t matter if you renew with us or one
of our competitors, like Register.com, but it is wise
to do it now and get it out of the control of Network
Solutions. Who knows what they will try next.

About the Author
Dr. Tag Powell
Alpha@DomainNameVault.com
http://DomainNameVault.com
http://Renew-Your-Domain-Name.com
TechTags Plugin [ niche domains | unique domains | domains on sale | used domains ]

Your domain identifies your business in the eyes of the people searching for the product or products you are selling on your website and in the eyes of the search engines. So, is choosing a domain important? The answer is yes. I hope to enlighten you to some important elements to creating and owning a domain name.

What Is A Domain Name

What is a Domain Name? Your website has a unique address called an IP address. The domain name–in essence, is the IP address with a naming convention. It is far easier for people to remember a name instead of a bunch of numbers.

Creating A Domain Name

Many people new to the Internet and to the Internet Business, do not realize the importance of a Domain Name, they just think they can put up any creative name and people will come. If you’re lucky, that may be true, but in truth, your creativity should incorporate the following tips:

When creating a domain name, you should keep in mind the following tips:

1. If it is possible, go with a “.com” extension. This is the most common, and easier for people to remember. In my case, no .com was available, so I opted for the .biz. Since I’m in a business of affiliate marketing — I felt it perfect for my needs.

2. The name itself — Do not use dashes or numbers in your domain name–it is hard for people to remember, unless it is central to the theme of your site.

3. Keep your name as compact as possible — the fewer words in the naming/description of your website will makes it easier for people to remember your site name, and that is definitely what you want.

Protecting Your Domain Name

Once you have your domain name, and your website is flourishing — you must protect your domain.

So how do you protect your domain? At the end of the year, the registrar will send you a notice that your domain name is about to expire. Inadvertantly, you may be thinking, that they just want your money, and they can darn well wait til the date it is due to get your money! Well, I wouldn’t do that. There is a very legitimate process called “drop catching”– that can easily destroy all your hard work in one instance.

Drop Catching

Drop catching is a legal process by which people can quickly grab domain names that have expired and use the link to create a website consisting of advertisements — or worse yet, resell them to make a profit off of your hard earned traffic. So, it is wise that you do not wait til the last minute to pay your registration. You do not want to log-in to your site, to find an error, or find out that suddenly you are no longer in business.

The rules of the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), gives domain registrars 45 days after the expiration date to notify the website owner that their domain name is going to be dropped from the registry. After the 45 days, you have a 30 day grace period, then your domain is up for grabs. However ..

Some domain services have created an auction process for expired names, such as GoDaddy.com, that begins the auctioning of domain names in as little of 30 days after the expiration date, to prospective buyers. However, GoDaddy.com does state to the prospective buyer in the auction process, that the original owners still have the option of reclaiming their name.

What’s in a name? If it’s a domain name, it can be your future online. So choose wisely, and protect what you worked, or have been working for — a business online.

Vickie J Scanlon — Visit her site at: My Affiliate Place for a repository of tools, articles, ebooks, affiliate opportunities and information, software, webhost providers and computers for the Affiliate/Internet Marketing person online.

TechTags Plugin [ niche domains | unique domains | domains on sale | used domains ]

A unique domain name. That’s one of the first and most important steps that a new home business website builders must consider. All too often, you see websites created with a free host with a domain name that includes the free host company’s business name. If you are planning to market your website and internet business as a professional entity, then you really should buy your own domain name. Your domain name gives potential customers an idea of what is inside your website or online store. Owning your own domain also lends an air of ‘permanancy’ to your business and reputation.

Other reasons why you should buy your own domain name rather than use a free one from a free host:

If you change hosts, either voluntarily or otherwise, your domain name will go along with you and your customer’s will not need to be contacted with a new web address.

A good domain name that describes your business or product helps prevent visitors from being confused and clicking on to someone else’s site to shop.

Remember to keep your domain short and easy to remember, something easy to spell and pronounce. My first blog domain name was, and still is, too long - 6 words - with hyphens between each word. It drives me nuts to type it, so I can only imagine how visitors feel if they have to type a long winded web address. Cutesy spellings like adding a Z in place of an S in a word is only confusing, and will quickly loose it’s cuteness. To help search engine users find you and increase your traffic, do some keyword research before deciding on a domain name. Keep in mind that you can always register more than one domain name directed to the same website. You can use .com, .net, .biz and protect your website from others of the same kind who register their sites with less popular extenstions.

How do you go about registering your own domain name? The host that I use, Homestead , provides the service as part of the package, for a small extra fee to register. You can buy domain names at other hosting companies. Find them by doing a Google search for ‘domain registration’ or other similar quearies.

About the Author :

Sherry Frewerd publishes Website Building Mom http://websitebuildingmom.com where you can find free information, reports and ebooks created to help you build a professional, money-making website. Learn About How I Build Websites the Easy Way…. http://websitebuildingmom.com/BuildanEasyWebsite.html

This article is distributed by: www.iSnare.com
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