Can't host my own domain name ><

Hi Guys,

First post here, not really big on forums/posting but there's always a starting point hey, anyway, this somewhat grinds my gears!

I bought a domain name, but someone else on dreamhost was apparently hosting it (perhaps previous owner?).

Anyway, I can't host it because it won't allow 2 of the same domains on the dreamhost servers, whilst this makes sense, Dreamhost support says I need to contact the owner and get them to backup and delete the managed domain name.

Is it a bit strange or am I just over-sensitive about this? Buy a domain but can't host!?!? I pay for the domain, pay for hosting and can't do anything with either? I even provided the tax invoice for proof of purchase of the domain :(

Anyone have this before? Help?

I'm fairly new to providing "support" via this discussion forum; however dreamhost has that "safeguard" in place to prevent people from attempting to move a domain from 1 account to another.

To me it makes perfect sense. If I were to create a coupon/discount in Hosting Account 1, then attempted to move all of my domains into a new hosting account using the coupon, that would be cheating the system, of sorts.

If dreamhost has said you should contact the previous owner, then you should avoid wasting time here, and contact the previous owner.

You obviously were in contact during the domain transfer, so it doesn't seem too far fetched that you could contact them again.

Good luck.

You shouldn't even have to contact the "previous owner." Sometimes someone sets up hosting for a domain they don't own, and it blocks the legitimate owner from setting up shop.

Provide proof to Support that you own the domain and have them remove the other one from the system. And it sounds like you've already done this. Bug them again. It's not your responsibility to clean up someone else's mess. When this has happened in the past, I've never heard of Support giving someone the runaround.

-Scott

You do realize that if they just deleted peoples' domains on request, that we could all go around hijacking domains, right?

They're one of the largest hosts there is, so it increases the odds of the same domain showing up twice, but I can't picture them yanking a domain out from under a paying customer without a lot of proof, or it being worked out between you guys.

If nothing else, I suppose support could ask him if the domain is still his and see if they can get it sorted out.

If both accounts used a promo code, they'll probably be a little more cautious, to make sure there's no connection between the two accounts.

In reply to:

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If both accounts used a promo code...

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Yeah, I think this would be the only case where one might into problems.




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That wouldn't really be a hijack, rather than a takedown.

The problem I see is that the OP might not even know who the original owner is. The domain may have become available and he registered it. And the previous owner might not even be the person who set up hosting here with that domain name. Chances are good that the OP has no idea whom to contact about the old site.

It still falls to Support to follow through.

-Scott

I've tried to contact the previous owner and received no response thus far!

I did NOT do a domain transfer, I bought the available domain name outright, that is, I search for it, It's available and I buy it. It must have expired from a previous owner.

You're right, I shouldn't have to clean up someone elses mess but I'm not quite sure what to say to support!?!?

I _have_ proided proof of purchase of the domain name.

The situation as I see it is that the previous owner has let it run out. They hosted the domain on Dreamhost and when I searched for it and purchased it, tried to get it hosted here, they happened to use the same host-provider.

In other words, using another hosting company would work perfectly well... it's purely a DreamHost internal hiccup... make sense?

Anyway, I'll ask support again I guess but *shrugs* might have to switch hosting or something or just host this other domain elsewhere :(

In reply to:

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That wouldn't really be a hijack, rather than a takedown.

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With Dreamhost's setup, it would basically be hijacking because you would be in control of the content that's delivered... since you wouldn't even have to change the name servers.

That's only true because it would be from customers to customer. An outsider couldn't do anything more than take it down, since he would need access to the name servers... in which case, he wouldn't be bothering if he had that.

Of course, the end result would be getting booted for doing it, and everything put back to normal... but it definitely wouldn't be much of a confidence builder for the victim and would probably motivate them to find a new host.

It's not really a hiccup because it wouldn't work anywhere else in the same situation either. That's why I pointed out that because of Dreamhost's size, the chances increase, only because of the numbers.

The other thing to keep in mind about "proof of purchase" is that if it can be duplicated on a computer, it likely won't be enough. If you have WHOIS privacy enabled, that will likely slow the process down as well.

Everything you said can be checked out through the WHOIS history, which I'm sure they'll look at -- but I still wouldn't expect them to just unplug anything until they've made contact with the current customer that has it in their account. You have to picture how you would want it to work if you were on the other end.

What you could do, that might help... or at least won't hurt since you can't do anything with it now, would be to redirect it somewhere else to show them the other customer has no control. Do you have another account somewhere, or a friend that does? If so, you could add it there and just throw up a page that says, "See, Dreamhost? I told you it was mine!"

If not, you could redirect it to your Dreamhost affiliate link and let them check the headers. Maybe you'll even luck out and get a few sign-ups in the process.

WHOIS info should be the definitive proof of ownership. Support should contact the Administrative Contact to confirm the changeover at DreamHost. That's the only way to handle it seeing how the new registrant has no way to contact the previous owner.

-Scott

Oh I've DEFINATELY got my whois information up to date and it verifies my details, that is, my name is plastered all over the whois information and can be tracked to the name on my bills and account in Dhost to prove it's me.

I think the bottom line is, It's obvious due to the proof provided (whois + invoice + i can redirect the ns to prove my control over it all) but with a bit of a push from, well, myself... i'll see how things go.

It's funny, I could literally just start managing a bundle of domains, like, I could easily add monkeyballs.com to dreamhost, and if anyone on dreamhost registers it, they wont be able to host it hehehe.. that's kinda funny. Not sure if it can really be circumvented though -_-

It's been 2 days since your initial post. Are you in an ongoing dialogue with Support about this?




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