Comments on: Hijacked!

By: Lisa Spangenberg

Lisa Spangenberg — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 15:10:44 +0000

Brian

Register with one of the better known Domain registries that offer to grab a domain for you when it expires; he’s only got it for a year.

I’ll even donate to a fund to pay costs; this kind of thing is just so rude.

By: Cryptic Ned

Cryptic Ned — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 14:28:53 +0000

You’re right, abb1, he didn’t actually seize control of the domain name using illegal force and demand that it go to a place of his choosing.

A better term would be “squatter”.

By: abb1

abb1 — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 07:13:08 +0000

…domain hijacker is a person named Jason Falk

If the domain registration expired (for whatever reason) and then this Jason guy registered it – how does it make him a hijacker?

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 03:41:58 +0000

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. Especially because this was the kind of thing I could have possibly prevented if I was paying attention. Or at least if I knew where to pay attention.

And James is right that the person hijacking these domains has a record of this. I found one ICANN case finding against him that he didn’t even contest, so possibly I could have gone that route. But that doesn’t sound like fun.

Thanks again everyone.

By: Michael Kremer

Michael Kremer — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 03:31:42 +0000

Brian,

Sorry to hear about this. It sounds like a royal pain (at best). I knew something like this must be happening when I tried to connect to your site earlier this week.

Next step (don’t rush!): get the link on crooked timber to connect to your new address.

By: James

James — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 00:05:56 +0000

From the registry information I just checked, it appears that the domain hijacker is a person named Jason Falk.

A Google search reveals that Jason Falk may have a history of hijacking domains. See this opinion:

http://www.arb-forum.com/domains/decisions/669202.htm

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 23:42:29 +0000

Yes, that sort of stuff is really annoying. My hosting provider sends you emails to say that your domain needs renewing, with a link to a webpage where you can go and click a “renew” button. Oddly, though, that doesn’t actually renew the domain – that’s done manually by some guy at the other end. What I’ve found that if you don’t start chasing this guy some weeks in advance, he’ll just forget to renew your domain, it will go over to a placeholder, and then take some days to come back online if and when he gets around to doing it. This has happened with three different domains that I host, all of which are kind of important.

By: Aidan Maconachy

Aidan Maconachy — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 23:15:54 +0000

Sorry to hear about this Brian.

I had a blog hijacked. It was simply an url heist on a blog I closed temporarily – not as complicated as your situation. It was a free blog, but frustrating as hell nonetheless.

Best of luck with this, hope you resolve it to your satisfaction.

By: antirealist

antirealist — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 23:13:16 +0000

You could always change your surname. That might be easier. Cheaper too.