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You go to work every day at the store you own, and one morning, your key to the door doesn’t work. You look in the window, and the display items have changed. A stranger is behind the counter. But when you call the police, they can’t do anything because the company papers now indicate that the store belongs to the stranger. The above scenario isn’t likely to happen with a bricks-and-mortar store. Because of insecurities in the domain registration system, however, information highwaymen could take over your online business. As with identity theft, domain thieves steal your identity — the identity used to register and configure your domain name. After that, your website, your email, your online business, and possibly your reputation are theirs. Domain names at risk of theft While theft is a risk with all domain names, domains most at risk are more valuable ones. Domains with dot com extensions have a higher resale value than domains with other extensions, and domains with high traffic or valuable keywords are also more likely to be targets. The motive behind domain hijacking is usually monetary, but it may be personal. If anyone wants to attack you, stealing your domain name is one way to do it. How domain theft happens When domain hijackers steal your domain, they gain access to the domain’s Whois records. They can modify the domain’s nameservers so that the domain points to a different server. They can also transfer the domain to a different registrar. Either way, site visitors will find themselves at the website of the domain hijacker instead of at your site. All domain email will go to or through the other server instead of to you. All you’ll have left is a website without public access because your domain isn’t pointing to it any more. How can this happen? Domain hijacking methods Domain hijackers send forged faxes to the domain registrar, impersonating the registrants. Registrar non-action The gaining registrar (the registrar that the domain is transferred to) doesn’t obtain approval from the domain name registrant or administrative contact as required by ICANN Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy. Registrant carelessness The registrant forgets to update Whois details or to renew the account. Domain name disputes If you discover that your domain has been hijacked, contact your registrar immediately. If your registrar is unable to resolve the situation, the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy (TDRP) applies. By going the above arbitration route, you don’t have to argue your case in person. On the other hand, all you can get back in the process is your domain (and not necessarily that). For a lot more money, you can take your case to court, where you can seek compensation for damages in addition to the return of your domain. This process takes more time, however. You may be able to proceed both ways - get your domain back via ICANN domain dispute resolution procedures and then go to court to collect damages. You can also appeal a domain arbitrator’s decision in court. How to protect your domain name Protecting a domain name is similar to protecting a bricks-and-mortar store from burglary. With a combination of precautions in place, thieves will find it difficult or impossible to gain access. Your domain account information List your name for the administrative contact, and use your full name. Your domain account features Choose a domain registrar that sends registrants transfer pending notifications when a domain transfer is taking place. Other domain security measures Set up a free Whois monitoring alert email service and add your domain to your monitoring list. You will receive email notifications whenever the expiration date, registrar, or status of a monitored domain changes. (Whois does not have data on all domain extensions.) Lois S. is a Technical Executive Writer for http://www.websitesource.com and http://www.lowpricedomains.com with experience in the website hosting industry. Tags: domain hosting, domain registration, expired domains, website hosting
Choosing a domain name can be daunting. Research the subject (after all, you’re the type of marketer who researches, right?) and you’ll be hit with a landslide of opinions, most contradictory. There is, however, two points that everyone agrees on: Pick your domain before you launch your business. This is especially true if your market niche has lots of competition. Research your domain before you commit to a business plan. Don’t wait too long if you like a domain. While you’re researching, you’ll likely come across a couple of domains that attract you. You might be tempted to wait, since you haven’t finalized or refined your business plan. Don’t. A handful of domains isn’t going to cost you much at an affordable registrar like GoDaddy, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. Chances are you can even resell the rejects at cost, if not a profit. Or “develop” them with unique content and point them to your main site for extra traffic. Now that we have the easy part of the way, let’s wade into murkier waters. Q. Which TLD (top-level domain) is best? A. If you’re a juggernaut in the business world with a giant ad budget, the answer is dot-com (.com). If you’re a smalltime business struggling for search engine positioning, the answer is still dot-com. People do disagree on the value of a dot-com TLD. Some assert that dot-coms have no particular value in the search engines, which may be true. However, the fact is, if you haven’t yet seared your brand on the collective brow of the planet, dot-com makes you easier to remember. If you eschew dot-coms, then in some deep dark place inside, people will remember you as “that hard-to-remember URL with the ending that isn’t dot-com.” What’s worse, if you pick an otherwise memorable domain ending in dot-net, -us, or (God forbid) -tv, some of your traffic will end up at that competitor who snagged the dot-com version of your domain. Okay, that’s settled. Now for the controversial stuff. Which is best: the “keyword” domain, or the “creative-genius, snappy and brandable” domain? Keyword Name vs. Creative-Genius Brandable Name A Keyword Name is the boring, workhorse kind of domain. You seem them everywhere. They bristle with hyphens: “best-anchovy-pizza-in-siberia.com.” Or “super-labrador-accessories-and-golfballs.biz.” On the face of it, they’re hard to brand. They’re hard to fit on business cards. They’re really hard to explain over the phone to Aunt Martha. On the other hand, a Creative-Genius Brandable Name is the sexy kind of domain. The successes are sparkling: Yahoo!, Google, Amazon.com. You can shout these URLs across the room and the other guy will probably get it right. But note: the dot-com road is littered with hip, snappy business who failed to brand their product successfully, or get listed high in the search engines. Now their URLs all point to the same page: “server not found “ The debate rages on, but the first question you must ask yourself is: How will people find YOU? It was recently reported that “direct navigation” web traffic has started to outnumber search engine traffic. In other words, more people visit sites by typing in the URL directly than they do by combing search engines for results. So more gurus are recommending ‘brandable’ domains. But think about this. As a small business owner, how will people find you? Word of mouth? Billboards on I-95? “Corporate sponsorships” on hockey arenas? Probably not: they’ll find you through search engines. They’ll type in “cheap purple widgets,” and as a smart marketer, you will offer them a website optimized for the keywords “cheap purple widgets.” Still, this doesn’t imply you should automatically pick a keyword domain. There are pros and cons to both types. BRANDABLE: ADVANTAGES The brandable domain is great for business cards. In fact, it’s nearly compulsory if you’re planning on offline marketing. In other words, if you’re printing up stationary at Kinkos, you want a brandable domain name. If you’re also a marketing genius, this is a fit challenge for your talents. Finding a memorable, apt domain to brand your business is something no software-driven suggestion tool can do. Most “hybrid” domains — ones that are really crosses between keywords and brandable names — are long gone. But if you create a unique idea for your brand, you can probably snag the dot-com name for yourself. Now all you have to do is burn that brand onto the world’s collective forehead. If you do, you’ll benefit from type-in traffic. That means that if someone hears about you, they can probably find you just buy typing in your domain. BRANDABLE: DISADVANTAGES The brandable name requires solid marketing skill, research and luck. Your name should be so catchy, it’s almost viral. It should also convey your actual business - or you’ll have to work hard (often meaning, spend money) to associate the two. Your name should be “tested” on coworkers, cousins and dishwasher repairmen to ensure it has no undesirable connotations. Finally, your name should be available as a domain, and not suffer from competitors with similar domains. Sometimes, pulling all this off is difficult. KEYWORD: ADVANTAGES By keyword names, we’re not talking about the glorious generic keywords - the one-keyword kings such as drugs.com or business.com. No, we’re talking keyword names you can afford. This is where you buy the domain name www.cheap-purple-widgets.com in hopes of getting a top search ranking for cheap purple widgets. Advantages are many. First, more keyword names are available. (They’re ugly, and many people feel an aversion to hyphens.) Also, they do help you place higher in the search engines. It’s true that search engines only give you a little credit for having a keyword in your domain, but “a little credit” counts. Second, keyword domains leave no doubt in the searcher’s mind about what you’re selling. If you decided to call your widget business “Ableeza,” a searcher might not get at a glance what it is you’re selling, even if your rank is high. Finally, if you can get people to link to you, those links will be valuable. No matter how Webmaster Joe describes you, the link part will always say, “cheap-purple-widgets.” This is a powerful search engine strategy for moving higher. KEYWORD: DISADVANTAGES You won’t get type-in traffic for a keyword name. You can’t really explain it across a phone. It won’t look pretty on a business card, and it’s almost impossible to pair up with a cute logo. But if search engine traffic is going to drive your business, the keyword name is worth a long, hard look. WRAP-UP Regardless of which type you choose, don’t play guessing games. If you go with a keyword name, use a search tool (like http://conversion.7search.com/scripts/advertisertools/keywordsuggestion.aspx to determine what keyword phrases people are searching on. If you choose a brandable name instead, test it out on a variety of real people first. Pay attention to their reactions. Reserve your domain early, since brandable domains go fast unless they’re very unique. In the long run, both types of domains can work for you, especially if offline marketing is an option and you have a knack for branding. Overall, though, the keyword domain is probably the easiest path to success for the small-business owner. Blake Kritzberg is editor of FavorIdeas. Stop by for continually-updated celebrity
It’s your domain, or so you say. One morning, you wake up to find that it’s registered in someone else’s name. Can you prove it’s yours? Can you get it back? The sex.com story One morning, Gary Kremen woke up to find that the domain name sex.com, which he’d registered in 1994, had changed hands and was registered to ex-convict Stephen Michael Cohen. In 1995, Cohen had allegedly written a fake letter with a forged signature to Network Solutions, the registrar. He stated in that letter that control of sex.com was to be turned over to him. In 2000, the court found the letter to be fraudulent and ruled that sex.com was to be returned to Kremen. Cohen was ordered to pay $65 million in punitive damages and for lost revenue. He never paid it, however, fleeing the US instead. The story continued with charges against Network Solutions for mismanagement of sex.com. A lower court ruled in 2000 that Network Solutions was not accountable for its negligence in handling the domain. A domain name was not tangible property, according to the judge. In 2003, the US Appeals Court ruled that Kremen did have property rights to the domain. The following year, Kremen reached a settlement with VeriSign, the owner of Network Solutions. While the amount was undisclosed, it was rumored to be over $15 million. Domains and ICANN It’s doubtful that any other domain has the value of sex.com. Our domains are valuable to us, though, and we want them to be protected. If they are stolen, we don’t want to spend years fighting to get them back. ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) was created in 1998 to help manage domain names, among other responsibilities. At the ICANN website, we read that ICANN “is dedicated to preserving the operational stability of the Internetand to developing policy appropriate to its mission.” Developed in 2004, ICANN’s Registrar Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy (TDRP) provides detailed steps for registrars to follow if a domain transfer is disputed. Registrars aren’t obligated to follow this policy, and it doesn’t guarantee resolution to domain transfer disputes. However, it provides a suggested policy for registrars to help reach resolutions when domain disputes arise. Domain theft and ICANN What should you do if you discover that someone has hijacked your domain name? First, contact the registrar where you had the domain registered. With evidence that you didn’t authorize the domain to be transferred to another person, that registrar should take the necessary steps to try to return the domain to you. Unfortunately, some registrars aren’t inclined to make the effort to do this, particularly (but not necessarily) those with a lower profit margin per domain. If the registrar for your domain won’t take action on your behalf, go to the gaining registrar with your case. This registrar; the one where your domain is now registered; may or may not want to look into the situation, but you can try your luck with it. According to ICANN’s TDRP, registrars should ” first of all attempt to resolve the problem among the Registrars involved in the dispute.” If they aren’t successful, they should then file a dispute with ICANN. In this ICANN April 2005 report, the suggestion was made (on page 5) to make the dispute resolution process accessible to registrants. At this time, though, if neither registrar will work to help you or will take the issue to ICANN, the ICANN dispute resolution process isn’t available to you. Although ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy is intended for disputes over trademarked domains, some registrants have used it to try to get hijacked domains back. You can file a complaint via one of ICANN’s Approved Providers for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. Domains and the courts The legal route that sex.com registrant Gary Kremen took is open to you as well. Look for a lawyer in the country of the domain registrar who has experience handling domain name disputes. At this point, you need to weigh the value of your domain with the costs involved in getting it back. The value of sex.com made the legal battle financially worthwhile for Kremen, but many of us would have to stop at this point. Protecting your domain Nothing you can do can guarantee that your domain won’t be hijacked. However, you can take a number of precautions to greatly reduce the chances of it happening. For tips on protecting your domain, see the article Information Highwaymen and Your Domain here: http://articles.websitesource.com/information_highwaymen.shtml About the Author: Lois S. is a Technical Executive Writer for http://www.websitesource.com and http://www.lowpricedomains.com with experience in the website hosting industry. Tags: domain hosting, domain name, Hosting, website hosting
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