Aplus.net did not "auto renew" my domain names- any remedy???

[w***@gmail.com]

Hi-

I am very upset at the moment and could use some guidance. I had 30
names on "auto-renewal" with aplus.net and an active credit card on
file. In May 2005, they started sending me notices that my domain names
were about to expire and that I needed to renew them. I spoke to them
on the phone and also emailed back and forth with their support and
confirmed that I had a credit card on file and that the 30 names were
on auto renew.

Today, I went to the site and I only had 12 domains left. I have been
able to rebuy all but 6. Some of those six were high profile including
newyorkjew.com, music-fest.com and joes.org.

Does anyone have a suggestion of what I can do? Is this a lawyer thing?
If so, any lawyer suggestions? I am at such a loss- I had some of those
names since 1996.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Wendy

[Gone]

Post by w***@gmail.com
Hi-
I am very upset at the moment and could use some guidance. I had 30
names on "auto-renewal" with aplus.net and an active credit card on
file. In May 2005, they started sending me notices that my domain names
were about to expire and that I needed to renew them. I spoke to them
on the phone and also emailed back and forth with their support and
confirmed that I had a credit card on file and that the 30 names were
on auto renew.
Today, I went to the site and I only had 12 domains left. I have been
able to rebuy all but 6. Some of those six were high profile including
newyorkjew.com, music-fest.com and joes.org.
Does anyone have a suggestion of what I can do? Is this a lawyer thing?
If so, any lawyer suggestions? I am at such a loss- I had some of those
names since 1996.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Wendy

Hi Wendy,

I can imagine you're upset, and feel a tremendous sense of loss.

I'm not a lawyer, but IMNHO this *is* a matter for an attorney,
especially because it involves the registrar, possibly ICANN
agreements, possibly arbitration as well as court. On the bright side,
things may get cleared up with just a phone call from your attorney.

Obviously it's good that you have the supporting emails.

As for finding an attorney, a Google search on [ lawyer domain name law
] returned 107,000,000 hits. The key experience you want to look for
is, first, "Intellectual Property Law" and then, specifically, "Domain
Name law or disputes". There have been enough disputes that there are
attorneys very experienced in domain name law --- and you want
experience, rather than paying for someone's learning curve.

You could also take a look at past WIPO decisions and see if the
attorney's name for cases is mentioned (I think they are, but I'm not
sure about that). <http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/search/>

Another source for referrals is FindLaw.com .

One suggestion is that you start giving some thought as to what it is
you want ... what a "win" would be for you. Do you want the domain
names back? Do you want monetary compensation to be awarded?

One other suggestion that comes to mind: you may want to get
appraisals done on the high-profile domains (or all six), just so you
have some "number" to start with as a reference point. It may also
help you decide how far you want to go forward on this. Domain name
appraisals really are a crap shoot -- I guess I'd suggest the premium
appraisal at sedo.com.

I wish you success!



-Gone