I want to purchase a domain for my startup but it is owned by what I believe to be a defunct company in Toronto, Canada. They owned a company with the same name as late as around 2010 but based on internet search, it seems like their business went cold around that time. The domain has been squatted on ever since.
Now my stealth startup wants to purchase this domain as it is unused and hasn't been in quite awhile, but it is privately owned with the domain whois info pointing to:<p>Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.wildwestdomains.com Registrar URL: http://www.wildwestdomains.com Registrant Email: DOMAIN@domainsbyproxy.com<p>Domains by Proxy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domains_by_Proxy) is owned by Bob Parsons (GoDaddy).<p>There are two things I feel leave a bad taste in my mouth.<p>1) People are allowed to squat on a domain indefinitely, creating no value for the domain (or society) and inhibiting others from creating value with it. By allowing private domain registration, in encourages this squatting and to me it hurts the market with an opposite effect from "free market" where instead it becomes "closed market".<p>2) GoDaddy seems to have a conflict of interest and charges $70 (+ commission) for their domain buy back service. In my case, all they did after I paid it was email me to tell me the seller is not interested in selling and that it is a non-refundable fee. I have called the to complain and get my $70 back as I feel like they didn't do anything that is worth $70 (and ive spent well over $1,000 in the past decade with them), but so far they won't refund me.<p>It seems almost fraudulent that GoDaddy can both hide a registrant's true identity and then charge money to be a middle man with them and in probably most cases they just tell you that the seller isn't interested.<p>What are your thoughts HN community? Does GoDaddy have a conflict of interest or a shady business practice here? Should there be a change in laws around this? What can I do?
I think GoDaddy is pretty clear on what their domain service does <a href="https://www.godaddy.com/domains/domain-broker.aspx" rel="nofollow">https://www.godaddy.com/domains/domain-broker.aspx</a> and what you're paying for. I agree it's too expensive but the service is to mediate and their first step, as outlined on the help page, is to reach out.<p>If the domain is squatted, didn't the squatter have a contact link? Their business is usually selling domain names after all. Maybe the squatter is using GoDaddy's anonymity service as a way to filter prospects not willing to pay money to reach them.<p>What you can try is go via GoDaddy again and increase your offer. Or another mediator, e.g. <a href="https://sedo.com/us/buy-domains/domain-brokerage/" rel="nofollow">https://sedo.com/us/buy-domains/domain-brokerage/</a>. If you're not willing to offer more money or the squatter doesn't want to sell then move on (choose a different name).