Dotster (click to visit their web site) is a business registrar for URLs and other related internet stuff. It so happens that my host used to use them (note the used to). We had no trouble for 2 or 3 years (except for their high prices). But this year, due to a misunderstanding between my host and Dotster, we were unable to renew it in time. After the renewal date has expired, Dotster holds onto the URL for 3 months, penalizing you by charging an additional $90 plus regular fees to renew it. I had no desire (or money) to play Dotster's game, so we decided to wait and register it again at the regular price when it was released into the public domain. Unfortunately, to prevent users from doing this, Dotster then hangs onto the URL an additional unspecified amount of time. The whois database was in chaos as to the status of the URL during the whole ordeal. Finally, one day to my horror, it showed the URL was registered! I was flabbergasted, to say the least. I mean, what is someone going to do with a name like cartoonistforchrist? And it's not like I got that many visitors a week (oh, the pain, the pain). Plus, none of the other extensions had never been registered before I came along. So I twiddled my thumbs for a few weeks, trying to decide what to do. When the whois database finally showed who registered it (it changed hands twice-you can tell I really had nothing to do during this time), I sent them off an email explaining the situation and asking if they would sell it back to me. They wrote back saying they don't sell the URLs they register. Well, I wasn't expecting much (I had searched for any information on the internet about their company beforehand), and dejectedly started looking at other alternatives available to me. Suing was about it. I could file a claim that I should own the URL because users have associated this URL with the name of my ministry for at least 3 years. I decided against that idea since I'm penniless and I have no desire to travel to their state to file it. Then, a few weeks later I decide to drop by the old URL and see what content my kawaii visitors are being subjected to: a for sale sign (pretty close to it, anyway). It was a company that takes your bid and offers it to the owner of the URL (a middle man), and the owner can choose to accept or reject your bid. I thought, "Hot dog, maybe I can get it back after all!" I quickly fired off a generous offer of US$70. A few days later it was rejected. Of course, they must have realized who I was because I already contacted them previously. I thought, "So, they want to play hard ball, eh?" So I fired off another bid for US$100! And it was promptly rejected (ack). If these guys had a head on their shoulders, half a brain, or any common business sense whatsoever, they would have accepted my offer! They aren't going to get diddle squat from anybody for that URL. They are involved in the sleazy URL after market. They try and grab a URL, then use the misguided traffic to their advantage or resell it for big bucks. So I hope that they won't renew it next August (they renewed it for only a year), then I can have my old stomping grounds back. What's upsetting is that I had decided to renew it for 10 years so that I wouldn't run the risk of loosing the URL (oh the irony, the irony). That's why I'm using cartoonistforchrist.org right now. I recommend you use GoDaddy to register your URLs. They have the cheapest prices, and they seem to be a reputable company.
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