Abuse of Domain Hosting...by 1&1 Internet Ltd...

[barkingmad]

Abuse of Domain Hosting and Registry process by 1&1 Internet Ltd and SCHLUND+PARTNER AG

http://www.icannwatch.org/article.pl.../01/27/1729222

[David G]

Abuse of Domain Hosting and Registry process by 1&1 Internet Ltd and SCHLUND+PARTNER AG

http://www.icannwatch.org/article.pl.../01/27/1729222

Before reading this I was already familiar with what they are doing. To clarify, even if you do NOT host the domain at 1and1 your domain registration is classified by them as a so called "hosting package" meaning every domain reg'd at 1and1.com is considered by them to be hosted there though they are usually not hosted there.

A reason they do that appears to be so they can charge a yearly fee (currently minimum of $5.99 without hosting, host is more) which is mostly unrelated to the domain name and its expiration date. In other words, if you transfer a domain there which was paid say 5 yrs in advance at another firm they do not count that and immediately require a yearly fee every year with the first yr also paid in advance. When they auto bill you in year 1 it does not change the domain exp date at all, same for year 2, 3, 4, 5 in this example, but they will still charge you every year.

This means if you try to transfer away the only way to do it appears to be to cancel the unwanted 'host package' which in effect also automatically cancels the domain name. They also require very complex steps to transfer including hard copy signed papers to Germany.

I am sure many people lose their domains due to this practice by 1&1 Internet of assuming you are cancelling the domain name, which borders on fraud imo and should be banned by Wipo (but I doubt if they have done anything about it).

[hunnam]

I had a 4 domains registered with them and the DNS servers were changed without my permission and I lost 3 days worth of revenue from sedo which was £4 - £5 per day each domain so I lost just over £50 ($95) and they said I changed them but the last login on my account was 6 days before (3 days before they were changed). You cannot win with big companies.

[namestrands]

what would you expect from the company who owns sedo.

[Dave Zan]

This is just my opinion, of course.

You believe A, they believe B. But what you both believe doesn't change the
fact you agree to all their terms when you use them.

Note the comments in the thread below, especially Dr. Berryhill's:

http://www.dnforum.com/f26/aboutus-org-whois-abuse-thread-204677.html

You don't believe what they believe in? Don't use them.

But while you're using them, don't assume. Clarify first.

It's arguable whether 1&1 potentially violated their agreement with ICANN re:
how they treat domain registrations in their systems. But when you use any
provider, you are responsible for understanding their terms.

Be responsible by being aware, and be aware by being responsible.

On the side, I'm glad to know they finally do redemptions unlike before. Quite
cheap, too.

[stu]

Yeah. They do redemptions but they have no renewal grace period. Redemption starts from the day of expiry for a period of 30 days, then they delete the domain from the registry. Here is the link to their FAQ.. http://faq.1and1.com/domains/other_i...domains/2.html