Diversify to keep your domains safe

March 31, 2011

A friend asked recently about whether it would be a good idea to move their company domain to the same discount hosting they use for their personal website. My reply was that it was fine to move the hosting of the website but that it was a bad idea to move the domain registration to the same place that hosted the site.

"Can we leave the domain registration at the registrar and still move the hosting? And why is it bad to move the domain registration to the hosting company?" was the response.

The bottom line is you should never, ever, absolutely never, have your domain hosted with the same company that is the registrar for your domain. If you have this today go change it now and then come back to read why you got lucky.

Two centuries ago when the revolutionaries were making themselves into founding fathers of the United States they had the concept that one should keep power and responsibility divided amongst different branches of government. This serves several purposes including making sure that one bad apple doesn't ruin the batch. Even a collection of bad apples need to get the consent of plenty of other actors before they can ruin the batch. Read more about Diversify to keep your domains safe

How can I own my domain?

August 1, 2007

Just last week I was busily renewing domain names without paying much attention. Then a friend wrote with a question that bears repeating and answering in a forum like this. This friend has a vanity domain and wants to make sure they keep it.

I want to own the domain, like I would own a piece of property. I recognize that I need to pay for the hosting, but I don’t want to pay regularly for the address. I want this address to be mine, until I die, or until we find something better than the internet.

Something better than the internet? OK so that wasn't the question. Especially with a recent spate of articles about domain names as the new real estate it would be easy to fall into a real estate model. Instead a more fitting comparison would be to business ownership. Ultimately the process of getting a domain name starts with having a registrar who can register the name for you. Often this may be bundled with website hosting but the two are separate (and I'll explain why they should be kept very separate in a few sentences). Read more about How can I own my domain?

How to get RegisterFly Authorization Codes

February 17, 2007

I've written previously about a few of the reasons everyone on earth should avoid RegisterFly. One of the questions that comes up from time to time is how to get the Authorization Code needed to transfer your domain away from them. The secret in my case was that you had to turn off "Private" registration and then the authorization code shows up in their Whois system. It may not be a great option for some but it's better than loosing domains.

ICANN requires shutdown of Verisign "service"

October 4, 2003

It took longer than some would have liked but the internet authority ICANN forced Verisign to cease their name grab highjacking by Friday at 6 pm. Friday or face leagal consequences. Verisign said they would comply and asked for more time. Although the extension was denied the hijacking continues. Verisign's statements indicate they are likely to fight the decision.

Verisign's domain name grab....

September 17, 2003

Have you been to www.sdfkasdfweroiuasdfkl.com lately? It and many other non-existant domain names in the .com and .net area now resolve to Verisign's advertising and search engine. Verisign recently turned on a wildcard domain name that answers any .com query that would have a short time ago provided a "Domain Not Found" response.

While inconvenient for web browsers the new "service" can cause even greater problems for e-mail which goes astray and in many cases people may believe they have delivered their email.

When you get sucked into the site you are bound by the terms of service. They state in part that you cannot use the service for any commercial purpose without arranging with Verisign ahead of time. As a business owner does this imply I must make certain that no contractors or employees accidently mis-type a domain and end up at the Verisign site? Read more about Verisign's domain name grab....