Dodora News Update

[URLCollection]

Recieved this today regarding any Dodora names from Directi -

Dear Customer,

The operations of Registrar Dodora have been restored.

The original Dodora Management has settled with the Court Receiver, Mr. Michael Bernstein, and has now taken over management of all Domain Names registered through the Registrar Dodora, with immediate effect.

In the wake of this development we, at DirectI, had been hoping to ensure a smooth transition for your Domain Name Management and have tried to work with Dodora on that front. However, the Registry Passwords have been changed by Dodora without providing us any prior notification, which has resulted in an abrupt discontinuation of all Domain Name management activities for domains registered at Dodora, through our Registrar Management Solution.

Directi / LogicBoxes will no longer be able to accept modification requests for your Domain Names, as we do not have the required passwords. Therefore,

1. all Pending Actions on Domain Names registered through Registrar Dodora, have been Cancelled, and

2. all Domain Names currently sponsored by Registrar Dodora are marked as Deleted within our database, since they can no longer be managed through our software. Please note, that this does not imply that these domain names are actually Deleted at the Registry; they may remain as is.

For all management of Domain Names registered with Dodora, you will now have to contact Registrar Dodora themselves. We do not know the process that you would need to follow to manage your Domain Names at Dodora, nor do we know who you need to get in touch with within Dodora for your support queries, as we haven't been provided any such information. Hence, despite our best wishes, our Support staff will not be able to assist you with most queries for Domain Names that are currently with Dodora.

However, if you have previously transferred your domain name to DirectI, then you can rest assured that you can continue managing this domain name via the OrderBox.

It has been a pleasure serving you these past few months and we hope to be of more service to you in the future. Team DirectI

[mole]

What is going on??

Moral of the story: Only use eNom.

[Acro]

What happens to domains that have been acquired for Pool by Dodora?

Example

Registrar: DODORA UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Whois server: whois.dodora.net
Referral URL: http://www.dodora.com
Name Server: DNS.POOL.COM
Name Server: DNS2.POOL.COM
Status: ACTIVE
Updated Date: 20-dec-2004
Creation Date: 20-dec-2004
Expiration Date: 20-dec-2005

[icanhelp]

Hello,

Can anyone (icluding Dodora) tell me how to renew my domain?

Whenever I try to renew the domain through Dodora's Registrar
Access control panel, I get the error:

"Insufficient Balance of user for Renew Domain or
Renew operation is not allowed for Domain ... "

Unfortunately there appears to be no facility to refill my account
and the online renewal system is not working. Also, I do not see
any contact details for Dodora on their Website.

I called the telephone number listed for Dodora (obtained through
Internic) and all I get is Voicemail:

Dodora's registered details are as follows:
Dodora Unified Communications, Inc.
14 Nicholson Street
Lynn, MA 01905
United States
1-781-823-4770
registrar@dodora.net

I also sent emails to support@dodora.net, sales@regwls.com, and registrar@dodora.net.
I have also sent a message using their online support ticket system,
but to no avail.

I need to renew my domain urgently.

Please can anyone help? I am desperate.

Thank you.

Best regards,
Andy Ballentine

[Dave Zan]

So what recourse do Dodora users have if they don't get a prompt response?

[eSology]

Under the new transfer rules why wouldn't somebody just transfer away? This is of course assuming the whois record is correct.

[icanhelp]

Hi,

Thanks to both for your response.

In short, the Whois for my domain is indeed correct
and I have also tried to transfer the domain away.

As the domain expired yesterday, I expect it's only
a matter of time before the domain's services, such
as DNS, expire too.

In short, I will no longer have a Website.

Any suggestions?

Best,
Andy

P.S. I also called and faxed Dodora, plus I opened
an online Support Ticket, all of which remain
unanswered.

[icanhelp]

Hello,

Just to keep everyone informed of my progress; following
my efforts detailed above, my domain was "mysteriously"
renewed for another year by persons unknown.

I can only assume someone is still overseeing operations
at Dodora following recent court proceedings and winding
up of the company.

Hopefully, this message will be of some encouragement
to others in the same predicament trying to sort out
important renewal of their domain/s.

Thanks to everyone for advice and participation!

Best,
Andy

[silver]

Hi Just wondering, maybe someone can help,
There's a domain name i want registered with dodora, it has expired but has not been renewed it also has not been released.

Thing is will it be released? like in the usual 30days (or is it 30 days) or is there a lock on all expiring domains (cos they cannot be renewed)

Just wondering if it's worth while for me to go to snapnames about it or if waste of time. I would like to secure the domain name.
I would appreciate if anyone has an idea on this.
thanks in advance.

[contact]

I was able to transfer my Dodora domain to eNom just recently.

If anyone wants to know, let me know and I'll elaborate.

[icanhelp]

Hi Just wondering, maybe someone can help,
There's a domain name i want registered with dodora, it has expired but has not been renewed it also has not been released.

Thing is will it be released? like in the usual 30days (or is it 30 days) or is there a lock on all expiring domains (cos they cannot be renewed)

Just wondering if it's worth while for me to go to snapnames about it or if waste of time. I would like to secure the domain name.
I would appreciate if anyone has an idea on this.
thanks in advance.

Hello,

Try a Whois lookup to find out whether the domain you're interested in
is "locked".

Be careful, though, about using Snapnames for Dodora domain drops.
I have it on good authority (from Snapnames), they no longer are
working with Dodora. You could try Bulkregister, though, I'm not
100% definite whether Dodora is affiliated with Bulkregister.

Perhaps someone else viewing this post may be able to help in this
regard.

My tip for snapping domains is to use a service affiliated with the
dropping registrar, get the idea? It's not always guaranteed to
work, however, I am ususally successful on most occasions.

Hope this helps!

Andy

I was able to transfer my Dodora domain to eNom just recently.

If anyone wants to know, let me know and I'll elaborate.

Hello,

Please do elaborate! I genuinely would like to hear how you managed the
transfer to Enom.

Thanks for your help.

Best regards,
Andy

[silver]

Hi, Andy thanks for the advice its gratefully received just wondering .....

1.
so if it is locked I will not be able to get a "dropped" name?
or does that matter.

2.
also what you thihnk of pool.com is it an affiliate of dodora or something its on their main page...
Is pool.com ok? something dodgy looking about their business....
do you think they would be good to get a dropped name from dodora.
bulkregister says nothing about dodora really....

Hello,

Try a Whois lookup to find out whether the domain you're interested in
is "locked".

Be careful, though, about using Snapnames for Dodora domain drops.
I have it on good authority (from Snapnames), they no longer are
working with Dodora. You could try Bulkregister, though, I'm not
100% definite whether Dodora is affiliated with Bulkregister.

Perhaps someone else viewing this post may be able to help in this
regard.

My tip for snapping domains is to use a service affiliated with the
dropping registrar, get the idea? It's not always guaranteed to
work, however, I am ususally successful on most occasions.

Hope this helps!

Andy

[contact]

Since the Dodora whois server is down, I openned a ticket with http://www.enom.com/help and sent them my Dodora domain login.

They were able to login to my domain and verify that I owned it. Shortly thereafter, I got a manually generated enom transfer e-mail request which I approved.

[icanhelp]

Hi, Andy thanks for the advice its gratefully received just wondering .....

1.
so if it is locked I will not be able to get a "dropped" name?
or does that matter.

2.
also what you thihnk of pool.com is it an affiliate of dodora or something its on their main page...
Is pool.com ok? something dodgy looking about their business....
do you think they would be good to get a dropped name from dodora.
bulkregister says nothing about dodora really....

Hi again,

Sorry I took so long to respond.

1. What I mean is the domain stays locked at the Registrar
until it is dropped. Then it becomes available for re-registration.

Also, you cannot initiate a Tranfer whilst the domain remains
"locked" (in my experience, Locking occurs 60 days either side
of expiry/renewal).

2. Not sure what you mean by "is Pool okay?". It is a legitimate
service, if that's your concern, though, I haven't yet had an
opportunity to try them. I'm sure, however, I will whenever
I begin the hunt for a new domain to develop.

I think if you can establish a link between Pool and Dodora
(as you suggest), then, yes, using Pool would be a "smart"
move in trying to catch a dropped domain from Dodora.

Remember, though, if during drop, Pool catches the domain,
you may have to bid against others interested in the same
domain. That's the way it goes, I'm afraid. I guess it really
depends on your budget and how badly you want the domain.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Andy

Since the Dodora whois server is down, I openned a ticket with http://www.enom.com/help and sent them my Dodora domain login.

They were able to login to my domain and verify that I owned it. Shortly thereafter, I got a manually generated enom transfer e-mail request which I approved.

Hi there!

Thank you for that information. I understand now.

Am I right in assuming the reason you were able to
initiate a successful Transfer to Enom was because
your domain was NOT within 60 days either way of
expiration of renewal?

Thank you for your help!

Regards,
Andy

[contact]

Am I right in assuming the reason you were able to
initiate a successful Transfer to Enom was because
your domain was NOT within 60 days either way of
expiration of renewal?

Yes, that's right.

[Dave Zan]

Just thought I'd post an update on this rather sorry episode:

http://www.webhosting.info/news/1/0614059035

DirectI Wins Lawsuit Against Dodora
14th June 2005

The 10 member jury panel unanimously ruled in DirectI's favor and acknowledged Dodora's claims as baseless.

DirectI.com, one of the fastest growing ICANN accredited registrars and leading Web Services Company, today announced that it has won the lawsuit brought against it, by Dodora Unified Communications Inc, in the Federal court of Massachusetts. The 10 member jury panel unanimously ruled in DirectI's favor and acknowledged Dodora's claims as baseless.

"Dodora had made 3 claims against DirectI and the jury ruled for DirectI on all 3 counts," said Bhavin Turakhia, CEO & Chairman, DirectI. "We have always practiced firm business ethics and values. We were disappointed when our fellow registrar filed a lawsuit against us without any foundation or foothold to the charges. We respect the jury and the court for taking a fair and just decision."

The CEO and Owner of Dodora, Mr. Ron Garraud, had filed lawsuit against DirectI, seeking damages by falsely claiming that DirectI had taken illegitimate control over its domain names, during the time Dodora was under receivership due to a prior litigation filed against it in Texas. As defendants, DirectI asserted that it was simply working as a contractor of Mr. Michael Bernstein, the receiver appointed in the Texas litigation. The judge and the jury upheld DirectI's claims and pronounced a verdict in favor of DirectI.

"Dodora claimed that we harmed their business by assisting the court receiver," said Divyank Turakhia, President & Director, DirectI. "They had their facts completely wrong. If anything, we actually helped Dodora during the receivership by assisting in the management of its business and supporting its Customers and Resellers. It is only due to our support and service that a majority of those customers remained with Dodora. If it were not for us - there would not be a Dodora today."

DirectI essentially provides a complete ICANN Accredited Registrar Management software solution to various organizations through its consulting arm called LogicBoxes. LogicBoxes software powers the business of several Registrars worldwide. DirectI provided this software and additional support services to Mr. Bernstein who was in control of Dodora from June 2004 to Dec 2004. In Dec 2004, Mr. Ron Garraud, the CEO of Dodora regained control of his company by settling the previous litigation. As part of the settlement he released Mr. Bernstein and the Texas plaintiff from all liability. Mr. Garraud then turned around to file a lawsuit against DirectI for damages.

"It was clear to us that Dodora had no claim against DirectI," said Mr. Dustin Hecker, a Partner at Posternak Blankenstein & Lund, the firm that represented DirectI in this case. "However the case involved several technical concepts and our only challenge was being able to present the entire picture to the jury in a matter of 3 days."