Registrar freezes our domain due to complaint and locks name - NO wipo or udrp! WTF?!

[Focus]

So we recently got an email about a traffic domain that was innocently forwarding to another website to help it's online cause (no money being made from this)...it seems somebody contacted the registrar who is in India and made a complaint because the name could be considered a typo or tm domain, although it is not in fact. This appears to have been someone upset about the forwarding and not the potential tm holder themselves. Acting on this information they (the registrar) removed the forwarding from the domain name and also froze the domain name and locked it! This is an ICANN accredited registrar and I find this action absolutely unbelievable and very troubling...if registrars start making judgement calls and de-activating people's domains then really what has the Internet come to as far as rights & free speech go? How safe are your domains in this case?
FYI - this name was only forwarding to a totally "G" rated website that respresents positive social causes, no porn, nothing illegal, no drugs, etc.

What if any recourse (legal or with ICANN) do we have?
All input appreciated, thanks.


Also, the company threatened to delete the other domains in the account if the account whois info was not further updated with a physical address and phone # for live contact. This should not matter as the name has privacy on it and the billing information on the account is accurate!

[GUA]

Well first thing I would do Is move everything out of there quick. Then post the registrar, and us fellow dnforum members will fight your cause/pressure them into giving back control of your name.. then we can continue to pressure them, and get them de-accredited. Sorted

[Fatbat]

Yup, transfer the remainder of your domains out of there to another registrar, out the company here, and go get yourself a lawyer to get back the locked domain.

[Focus]

I am honestly a tad bit reluctant to start transfering any of my domains out from there (just a few are there) because they have already threatened to delete the domains in my account because of this issue (and registrars must approve any out-going transfers) so I am trying to not piss them off and not be able to even get in my account which is something they very well could do and I have sent them back a polite but firm email detailing ICANN policy regarding domain name disputes and complaints they still have my domain locked and frozen and no response as of yet. Grrrrrrrrr..who here lives in India..

[nameadvertising.com]

GoDaddy has done this a few times for some justifiable and and not so justifiable reasons. If I were you, I'd contact the complainant directly and politely request them (letting them know that you will use all lawful options available to you to seek full rights and access to the name in question plus damages) to retract their complaint with the registrar following which I'd threaten them with legal action.

When you know you haven't done wrong, don't take injustice kindly.

And I never felt comfortable registering with registrars outside the United States with the exception of EuroDNS.

ICANN is a joke. They are good just to release new extensions so they can satisfy their greed.

[jdk]

I assume this is GoDaddy correct? From the email and phone number comment it appears this is who it is, however, someone has to try and send mail to the address in the whois and then send the returned mail to Godaddy before they do anything.

Let us know which registrar it was.

[Gerry]

I agree. I think we need to know the registrar. As mentioned, GoDaddy has done this without notification (seclist.org) and with no warning at all. A few complaints is all it took.

There must be some underlying issue that you are not aware of and that they are not revealing.

Other than that, it is great cause for concern.

[nameadvertising.com]

The registrar in question seems to be in India. I was referring to instances where GoDaddy has taken similar actions although the registrar in question seems to be crossing its bounds.

With the power bestowed upon them by Icann, there is little one can do. But I'd sue the complainant and take legal action against them. A bully only learns when you raise your fist or perhaps punch where it hurts.

[James]

Anything to do with Directi ??


source

The above in figures review of the actions that Directi, in conjunction with HostExploit, have recently taken to track down and stop abusive domain names and registrants from abusing Directi’s services.
Registrar Abuse

Over 50,000 domain names have been suspended that were either involved in abusive activity or registered by customers/registrants exhibiting persistent patterns of abuse.
These domain names (and/or their registrants) were involved in various types of abuse, such as spamming, phishing/spoofing, malware perpetration, suspected pedopornography, financial frauds and falsified ‘Whois’ information.
All other services utilized by any of these domain names have also been revoked.
Over the past three months, certain resellers have been identified who have been the destination of choice for bad actors; among these are Vivids Media GMBH, Klikdomains, MyNick.name, and Webst.ru. Approximately 125,000 domain names registered through these resellers have been suspended so far.
PrivacyProtect

A large incentive for bad actors to use Directi’s services has been PrivacyProtect.org. This service has been disabled for over 27,000 abusive domain names.
The service had been permanently disabled for all existing and new registrations through resellers/registrars that have seen high volumes of abusive registrations - notable being the ones mentioned above and Estdomains. This has amounted to approximately 500,000 domain names which had privacy protection canceled.
Analysis

When suspending domain names on receiving complaints about their involvement in abuse, HostExploit is pleased to report that, Directi, while reviewing the complaints over the past few months, even before the ‘Atrivo-Cyber Crime USA’ report, found certain trends:

Domain names registered with the same/similar contact information (name, address patterns)
Bulk registrations of domain names with a slight variation in the domain name e.g. 018xyz.com, 018xyza.com, 018xyzb.com, 018xyzc.com …. by abusive registrants/customers
Same blacklisted name servers being repeatedly utilized.
Registrations in the same customer account involved in various forms of abuse
Based on these, we reviewed all domain names, first in the customer's account, then in the reseller's account and then across the databases. Based on these similarities, 35,000 domain names were identified and have been labeled as co-network.

jim

[JuniperPark]

No experienced domainer is keeping their domains at Directi, are they? SERIOUSLY??

[jdk]

Grrrrrrrrr..who here lives in India..

I didn't see this part. It is not GoDaddy then.

[Focus]

It is a Directi reseller...many names are with the various Directi companies esp. ones that are several years old and any names I have there were bought and pushed to me there. It has always been considered a "safe" place to keep sensitive or controversial domains. I should get a response or reply tomm. as it's like 4 AM there right now so they are surely closed and I'm assuming this is why I have yet to get a reply back..will keep you updated.

For the record I have had several issues in the past with domains at GoDaddy and they always have been cooperative and supportive. I have never had them freeze a domain name or do anything like this or threaten to delete "all the domains" in my account. I really wish I had this domain at Godaddy right now!

[nameadvertising.com]

Focus,
Duke, Moniker and I assume Adam know Bhavin Turakhia, CEO of Directi or Divyank himself. Take it directly to him. Your best bet to get it resolved. He will listen.

[Focus]

Good to know, thank you for the input. They really don't want me causing waves...

[jdk]

Good to know, thank you for the input. They really don't want me causing waves...

You're such a badass.

[Focus]

You're such a badass.

Just because you remove questionable posts when I call you pissed off at 2 am and remind you we are nearly neighbors does'nt mean the registrar will act in the same manner.

[Acro]

Apparently Directi just overcame GoDaddy in domain fascism.

Currently I am testing Fabulous - they are nothing short of fabulous so far.

[jdk]

Apparently Directi just overcame GoDaddy in domain fascism.

Currently I am testing Fabulous - they are nothing short of fabulous so far.

LOL - Did they give you a 24 hours breather again?

[Acro]

Obama placed some calls

[Focus]

Actually I had my people pull a few strings...and made sure they let Acro think he had some influence in the process...gotta keep the power balance going ya know...funny you should mention Obama Acro

lmao