Guest Post: Saga of a Stolen Domain Name and How it Was Recovered

Elliot Silver
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This is a guest post written by Name.com Community Evangelist, Jared Ewy. This article discusses the theft of DavidWalsh.name and how it was recovered.

At Name.com we like to take care of the customer.  We know buying something online can sometimes feel like a lonely endeavor that ends with money dropping into the tinny nethers of the ‘net. Our goal is to make sure your experience is the exact opposite, filled with real, handmade help that leaves you knowing you’re not alone. When you buy something from us, or if you simply have a question about one of our products, we’ll take care of you. Many of the questions we get are simple enough to be handled in 140 characters or less. Sometimes they get fairly complex, and sometimes they lead to downright dramatic international capers. The latter would be the case of the missing domain DavidWalsh.name.

It seems impossible by now that someone wouldn’t know that David Walsh’s domain was stolen (check out our dramatization here).

From the time Mr. Walsh first Tweeted @namedotcom about his missing web address, to the time it was retrieved, the entire ordeal has been a primer on the power of social media. David Walsh shared with us this situation:  his domain had been stolen and he was wondering if we could help him get it back.  A few tweets later we had enough information to find the alleged thief in Ukraine. Meanwhile Walsh and his thousands of Twitter followers started trending the hashtag #FreeDavidWalshDotName. It was big and getting bigger.

We hadn’t planned on contacting the alleged thief, but it turns out he was more accessible than a certain other company’s customer service!  Even more amazing, the alleged thief (he says his friend stole it using his account) used his actual phone number on the Name.com account that briefly held the stolen domain. After giving up on traditional means, Name.com Domain Operations Manager Scott McBreen decided to put some pressure on the suspected domain wrangler. With The Ukraine on speed dial, Scott was able to get the purported scofflaw to transfer the domain back to Name.com, where we were able to give it back to Mr. Walsh.

It was exciting and stressful. The domain had originally been held by GoDaddy before it was stolen and briefly registered with us, and then whisked off to 1and1. It seems the thief would have kept moving the domain around while sending cryptic ransom notes to Mr. Walsh if it hadn’t been for the heroics of our domain operations manager, Scott.

We’re happy to have helped get the domain back.  Customer service defines us as a company…  it’s what we do here.  In our spare time we’re obsessed with Twitter and Facebook. If you leave a comment, we’ll get back to you.  With a situation like Mr. Walsh’s we felt a little like the  Blues Brothers  and on a divine mission to make the situation right (and if you don’t get that reference then stop what you’re doing and educate yourself with the Aykroyd/Belushi classic.)

In the end everything worked out. David Walsh got his domain back, Scott has been enshrined on Twitter as a legend, and we have this opportunity to remind you that most all Ukrainians are good people. In light of all this we’re celebrating with the promo code “DAVIDWALSH”. Use it to get $7.25 COM/NET transfers in and $6.99 .NAME transfers. All of your transfers to Name.com include a year of registration.

If you’re looking for a domain registrar with world-class customer service and people who strive to simplify hosting, web sites and SEO, then you’ve found your place. If you need any more info just hit us on Twitter @namedotcom for Facebook.com/namedotcom.

Highlights from Go Daddy’s Annual Party

Elliot Silver
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5

Each year around Christmas and the holidays Go Daddy holds its annual party, and it always seems that founder and CEO Bob Parsons outdoes the previous party. And why should he not? It’s a good time to be Bob Parsons, and celebrating success with the people who create it and contribute to it are important.

Things at Godaddy seem to be on an upward trajectory, despite the economic conditions. The company continues to increase its revenues, and from what I experience and read about, the customer service and employees are huge assets, contributing to growth and customer retention.

Here are some party highlights and information that was released by the company post-party:

– Go Daddy is expecting to record “$1.1 billion dollars in business” this year.

– The “strategic financial partnership with KKR, Silver Lake and TCV” will close soon, “perhaps as early as Friday.”

– Go Daddy has given more than $5 million to charity organizations this year.

– Go Daddy’s customers have given more than $353,000 this year as part of its “Round Up for charity” program.

– Musical performances at this year’s party included Kid Rock, Dierks Bentley, and Trace Adkins.

– There were over 5,000 people in attendance at the party, held at Chase Field in Phoenix (home of MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks).

– Bob Parsons drew employee names for cash prizes of more than $1.1 million, and to make this even better, the company pays all the taxes on behalf of the employees who win.

Bob Parsons Reveals New .CO Girl

Elliot Silver
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10

As expected, Go Daddy is going to have a television presence during the Super Bowl. The company announced that it will advertise for the eighth consecutive year, and it has purchased two – 30 second commercials.

The company also reported that Go Daddy will feature .CO in one of its commercials during the big game on February 5, 2012.

This evening, Bob Parsons posted a tweet on Twitter announcing that he’s “At GoDaddy.co (that’s right .co) Superbowl Ad shoot with Danica, Jillian & our new.co girl.” A link to  photo  was posted along with the message. Update: It seems that the tweet and photo with Bob Parsons, Danica Patrick, Jillian Michaels, and the new .CO girl were removed very quickly. Perhaps a case of pre-mature publication?

Although I don’t know the name of the new .CO girl, she is much more attractive than last year’s .CO girl, Joan Rivers.

My TRAFFIC Experience & Recap

Elliot Silver
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16

I returned home from Ft. Lauderdale yesterday evening, and I want to share some of my takeaways from the TRAFFIC conference. Overall, the conference proved to be a great networking opportunity (as it always is) in an excellent venue.

–  Domain Holdings  made a very impressive showing. In a short span of time, the company has hired a number of people who are experienced in the domain industry and some from outside of the domain space. In fact, when I first arrived, I said hello to someone I know who has worked at a successful but covert domain company, and I was surprised when I saw his tag said Domain Holdings. I think Domain Holdings is a collegial team of experts who are working on products and services that target various segments of the domain business, and I bet you’re going to hear a lot about them in the next year.

– I had a productive meeting with Protrada about the company’s platform, and I am going to set up my account ASAP. I was given a walk through, and I think it is going to help me stay on top of potential acquisitions and auctions. If you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s quite comprehensive and well put together.

– I really appreciated the fact that GoDaddy was there and took the time to walk through the auction platform. I had some issues with it, and I was able to learn a few tricks while showing some of the areas of frustration.

– Sedo and Afternic announced news during the conference, which will help domain owners sell domain names. Afternic is partnering up with Godaddy and Sedo expanded its SedoMLS distribution channel. It’s going to pay to list your names on both platforms. I also had a nice conversation with Don Lyons, who let me know about Moniker’s new partnership with Afternic, making it easier to sell names.

– Whether you think adult sites are good or bad, .XXX domain names are good or bad, or whatever your feelings are related to the adult industry, I can tell you they have a smart team running the operation, and I think they are going to be very successful. I had a long and candid conversation with ICM Registry CEO Stuart  Lawley, and I came away impressed with the organization.

– The .XXX party at the W Hotel was fun. The venue was great, especially because it was so close to the Ritz Carlton.  I think the party could have been a bit more “adult” though 🙂

– I am glad that  Mike Mann was on the Test Track panel. He was very blunt when he needed to be and was entertaining by calling things the way he saw it. I think organizers need more vetting for Test Track to avoid no shows and to choose presenters with solid business plans.

– I want to wish Mike Berkens congratulations for Blogger of the Year. It’s very well deserved and certainly hard earned.

– I think there should be a Domain Broker of the Year category. I know awards aren’t that important to many people, but the broker side of the business helps bring in considerable revenue to domain investors, and some brokers are far superior to others.

– There was a guy who showed up at the conference with one of the most unbelievable lists of category defining .com domain names that made everyone’s jaws drop. Apparently, his father founded the company a number of years ago.

– The Ritz Carlton in Ft. Lauderdale was an excellent location to hold the conference. It was large enough that there was space to spread out and hold private meetings, but it didn’t feel like it was too expansive. The corridor outside the ballrooms was conducive to meetings, and to meet with companies that had booths. There were several areas (inside and outside) and restaurants for private dining and larger parties. In addition, there are a number of hotels within walking distance for those who don’t have a Ritz Carlton budget.

– Despite the three days of rain, spirits were still very high. People stayed at the venue for the most part, and there were many good opportunities to meet with other people and companies in the industry. I tend to take some time during the conferences to catch up on work/emails…etc, but I stayed at the venue almost the entire time.

– I am sure many people are just waiting until I discuss the auction. Actually, a lot of people will probably skip over this entire post just to write negative things about the auction. In any case, I don’t think it takes a genius to realize the results weren’t great. I think the .XXX sales were strong, although I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Movies.XXX sell, in light of a few other high dollar sales. Everyone seems to have an opinion on what went wrong and what can be improved, and I am going to stay out of that.

– As usual, the show organizers put on a professional trade show without many hitches. They’ve been at it for years, and I felt that the whole Traffic team made attendees feel welcome and appreciated.

NameCheap “Windfall” Helps Save The Elephants

Elliot Silver
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Save the ElephantsIn March, a video of  Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons  hunting “problem” elephant  in Zimbabwe” was posted on Video.me. This video angered and disappointed many people, including passionate domain owners who pledged to take their business elsewhere as a result.

Rival domain registrar, NameCheap, made a special offer for people who wanted to transfer domain names out of GoDaddy. In fact, they actually made an offer that cost them money, since the transfer price was less than the cost they pay for each domain name.  NameCheap also pledged to donate $1.00 for every transfer to the non-profit  Save the Elephants  organization.

The offer allowed NameCheap to donate more than $30,000 to Save the Elephants, and that donation was greatly appreciated. In a note to NameCheap posted on its Facebook wall for customers to read, Save the Elephants wrote, “you were the windfall from out of the blue and you really helped us this year. Thank you so much.”

I like seeing non-traditional fundraising efforts, and this one really helped a good cause.  I suppose Mr. Parsons’ elephant hunting trip ended up helping elephants in unexpected ways.

Quickly Transfer a Name from Go Daddy

Elliot Silver
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28

I have an account at GoDaddy, specifically because of the company’s high level of customer service. The one thing that irritates the heck out of me is when I buy a Godaddy-registered domain name in the aftermarket, have it pushed to my account, and then have it locked for 60 days. This is one of my biggest pet peeves in the domain business.

As a result of this policy, I will almost never have a simple domain push done when buying a name from someone who uses GoDaddy, unless I plan to develop it. When I am buying to re-sell it, which is more often than not, I will transfer the domain name out instead of doing an account push. I sacrifice simplicity, speed, and ease, to not have to deal with the transfer lock.

For those of you who are like me, I want to share a method to have your transfers out of Godaddy completed more expeditiously. This will take a 5 day transfer from Go Daddy to Moniker, Enom, Register.com, Network Solutions, or other domain registrar, and make it a 2 day process.

Here are the steps to quickly transfer a domain name out of Godaddy:

  • Domain owner needs to unlock the domain name.
  • Domain owner should then request authorization code and forward it to buyer.
  • Buyer should initiate a transfer at his or her registrar.
  • Domain owner should forward any security email that is received after the previous step to the buyer, and the buyer should proceed as directed.
  • Wait until the following business day.
  • Domain owner should log in to the domain control panel, under Domain Manager, there’s a tab  that says “Domains.” In this drop down menu, there’s a link for pending  transfers. Assuming the domain name is listed in there, he should check off the box and  then click the “authorize” button on the upper right section.
  • The domain name should be transferred the following business day.

I just did it yesterday and the transfer was completed this morning.

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