[sf-lug] How sf-lug.info ended up on the Network Solutions / Web.com account along with sf-lug.{org, com}

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Michael Paoli (Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu):

> Sometime after the sf-lug.{org,com} domain had retroactively expired -
> apparently they were autorenewed on credit or debit card (at their full
> list/book rate), that was apparently subsequently challenged *after*
> the domains had been renewed but would have otherwise expired,
> apparently through financial institution, charges were reversed by
> financial institution, apparently then Network Solutions / Web.com then
> put the account in bad standing and took over the domains for
> themselves....

While these events leave a bad impression, it's worth considering:
When a domain is at about one month out from expiration, and NetSol does
its (characteristic, if you permit it) autorenew action, _if_ you then
successfully contest the charges, _what's going to happen_?

What's going to happen is, the domain then marches steadily down to and
past expiration, which is exactly what you do _not_ want.

That begs the question of what the plan was, in this case.  Cancel
NetSol autorenew and simultaneously attempt a last-minute transfer to a
better registrar, hoping it will complete before expiration?  That's
really the world's worst bet, for reasons I've described separately.
Predictably, Jim got his charges reversed but _then_ the two domains 
expired before he could move them elsewhere.  This is _so_ not
surprising that... well, it's predictable with high confidence.

If people would heed my Rule Zero of domain ownership, 'Never let a
domain of interest go under 30 days from renewal, and, if you do
nonetheless, don't even think of doing anything but immediate renewal',
none of this would happen.  Nearly _every_ domain mishap I've ever heard
about involved short domain runtime.


>  I wasn't successful in that> (though Asheesh was!  :-)).

SF-LUG owes a major debt of gratitude to Asheesh Laroia for great feats
at this time (including, IIRC, funding the renewal).  He's a hero.


> (Network Solutions / Web.com tends to send tons of "marketing" (spam!)
> email (they also make it difficult to opt out of such - you actually
> have to call them, and it takes many days before it takes effect - of
> course on phone they'll try to sell you more of something). 
[...]

Y'know, it's been so fashionable to hate on NetSol, and they're such an
obvious hate object as the incumbent registrar of a lot of disgruntled
customers who stayed there through inertia after 1998's creation of a
competitive domain registrar market, that I've long resisted joining the
bandwagon.

Because I bailed (moved to elsewhere) immediately after the 1998
liberalisation, I've not been one of their captive customers in almost
20 years.  So, it's easy to forget one's less-than-stellar impression
back in dinosaur days, and think:   Sure they're infamously bureaucratic
and widely accused of sabotaging attempts to move away from them, and
sure their pricing sucks without any compensating quality customer
service, but surely they're not _that_ bad, are they?  But then, voila,
perspective.



[NetSol letter:]
 
> BRAND PROTECTION NOTICE
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Revenue enhancement.  ;->