Policies for claiming DNS entry from a vanished owner

April 18, 2024 7:41 AM

My sister’s organization has a domain name that was registered by a now vanished member. The registrar is properly suspicious of this claim and I am gathering information before we go to the next step.

I would like to go in well armed so I’m trying to find any ownership dispute policies inherited from ICANN or PIR (it’s a .org) that must be followed by the registrar as part of their contract. I’m not finding any and they may not exist, so I thought I’d toss this out to the hive mind and see if anyone happens to know if such policies exist or it is entirely up to the registrar’s discretion.

posted by Tell Me No Lies to Technology (5 answers total)

Won't the registrar tell you what you need to do to prove your ownership or authority over the account? If they have their own standards and protocols, they are the only one's who can answer it and if they are using industry standards, they too can and should tell you.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:42 AM on April 18 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Yes, pursuing things with the registrar is the next step. As I say, I would like to enter that step well armed and that means with the full picture from top to bottom.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:10 PM on April 18

Response by poster: Just to be clear: while I am fortunately not dealing with GoDaddy here, if you ever have dealt with them you may have encountered the used cars sales ethic they bring to the table. I do not automatically consider registrars to be upright citizens which is why I want to be prepared.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:17 PM on April 18

When I had a similar though not exactly the same situation, one of the things that needed to happen to resolve it was to fax (fax!) a letter to the registrar claiming ownership of the domain on "company letterhead" which... well anyone with a word processor can make company letterhead nowadays...
posted by jessamyn at 3:18 PM on April 18

I suggested asking the registrar themselves because I think this is going to take time. No matter how prepared you are for the conversation with the registrar, you are going to have to jump through hoops. I would look at it as at least two calls with the registrar. One, to figure out what they need from you, then the next to negotiate if what you have or can gather is enough.

How was the initial registration paid? Was it on an organization credit card or check or was it paid by the now vanished employee and reimbursed? I think having use of or access to the original payment method will go a long way to regaining control. I think having access to the organization's articles of incorporation or formation or even the front page of a recent tax filing would help.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:04 PM on April 18 [1 favorite]