Web Domain Legal Rights

[Michael]

Hey everyone,

Here's the situation a friend of mine is in which I would really appreciate answering!

My friend approached a web designer who (at the time) seemed good and bought a web domain on his behalf. He soon realised however that the designer wasn't up to scratch and communication soon broke down.

In the meantime he looked for a more suitable web designer, but wishes to keep the web domain that the previous web designer bought for him. Now here's the odd part. The first web designer is being extremely unco-operative in specifying details - i.e, the name of the registrar and the username and password. I contacted the hosting company and they too were baffled why the web designer was being difficult handing over these important details! Is this legal or illegal, as the web designer bought the domain for my friend (which he paid for), so surely he must have the legal right to something he bought?

I'd appreciate any links if possible to further support this query as it is an area I am unfamiliar with, thank you

[webman]

If it is in writing that the domain was bought for your friend then he hasn't a leg to stand on as far as keeping the details to himself. You may be able to get some good advice from Nominet UK.

[metalmonkey]

The person who registered the domain has full authority over the domain no matter who he registered it on behalf with the exception if he registered the domain under your friends name or company name.

If the webdesigner registered the domain in his own name, under the title of his own company, then your friend has to fight for the domain. He can approach nominet (or whoever the domain registrar is) and claim the designer is squatting.

I would add that the designer is with-in his right to charge an admin fee to transfer the domain to another host/designer.

This is unfortunately one of the side affects of not looking into the small print before comissioning a web designer. I always register domain names in my name but under the company name I am working for. This is not only good business practice, but also a good sales pitch.

I own a small design company and I've worn this t-shirt before. I will happily help out. PM me if you need it.

[beeswax]

you can find out who registered your friend's domain by going to this link and entering the domain name in the search box

[cshep02]

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[Michael]

Thanks for the replies guys Apologies for not replying sooner, however now all is resolved!

Essentially what had happened was the webdesigner had registered the domains in my friends name, however the designer was the 'technical' contact.

The process of gaining control of .com and .co.uk domains is slightly different. For .com domains, the domain has to be 'unlocked' by the current owner (in this case the technical contact). A request from another registrar (such as www.123-reg.com) then has to be issued for a small fee of £9.99. An e-mail is then sent to the technical contact and they either allow or disallow the transfer. Once the transfer is complete, I can then change what I like.

For .co.uk domains an e-mail has to be manually sent to the technical contact whereby they have to change the current IPSTAG to the new hosts IPSTAG. Then from the www.123-reg.com control panel I can then retrieve the domain and again change what I like once the transfer is complete.

I think one lesson has been learnt from this story. If you plan on setting up your own website, register the web domain yourself. It's so much less hassle it's unbelievable!