Since James Iles wrote about Brent Oxley having his domain names locked by GoDaddy due to someone filing a complaint in India, Namepros has erupted.
Many have started transferring names out, I mentioned the story to someone this morning who neither goes to Namepros anymore or reads most blogs. He replied back 30 minutes later he was transferring his 700 names out.
The thread at Namepros which is now the popcorn thread of 2021 so far has some interesting comments.
First off Mr.Oxley himself opened a new account to post under @create.com
Hello,
Brent Here. I had to create a new account as the old one had my old company Hostgator in the name. =)
I don’t think a lot of you realize how serious this is. A scammer spent a little over $12 in India, and without proof, a contract, or even a court order, was able to abuse Godaddy’s policy and lock over $10mm worth of my domains!
These names have been locked for over a year now, and I’ve spent $10,000’s in legal bills trying to get a court order to get them unlocked as Godaddy requires. (covid hasn’t made it easy with the courts) The legal fees pale in comparison to the millions in deals I’ve had to turn down. The lock prevents you from changing a domain’s DNS or transferring it, which means you can’t sell it.
This scam is pretty genius if you think about it. Just about any scammer in the world can file in their country courts for a small fee; email GoDaddy that the domains are under “dispute,” and bam Godaddy will lock whatever domains the scammer asks them to in their email to courtdisputes@godaddy.com. (at least that’s what happened to me)
The scammer doesn’t even have to show up for court to keep your names locked and most likely won’t. Godaddy will lock the domains without a court order and then require you to get a court order to unlock them all.
Getting a court order to get your domains unlocked is very costly, time-consuming, and can take several years with how backed up most of the courts are from Covid.
If you’re with Godaddy and you think your account is safe from this scam, I’d recommend you email them and find out for yourself that your names can be locked from a “dispute.” and their UTOS says such.
I’m ashamed to admit it, but I had a few moments of weakness and offered the scammer Puneet over $10,000 to drop the “dispute” with Godaddy. I even had some of the potential buyers wanting to pay Puneet $10,000’s in extortion money in order to close on the names locked. He was too greedy, demanding millions, and as a result, I’m not going to pay him a dime in extortion money. Instead, I’m paying lawyers in India to make sure he serves prison time for both extortion and fraud.
At one point, I even offered Godaddy full indemnification from the “dispute” if they unlocked my names. This is off the table now, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why’d they turn this down and continue to keep my names locked without any proof or court order.
Below is the email in which I found out why my names were locked. In this email Godaddy lied about there being a court order to lock my names. I don’t know why they lied about this but I’m guessing it’s because the file Puneet attached was in Hindu and they took his word for it.
“Dear Brent,
We have been notified that per documents filed in the District Court in Alwar, Rajasthan, the domain names below are the subject of a legal dispute:
HYBRID.COM, DISTRIBUTE.COM, ADMIRER.COM, DRONE.COM, CIA.COM, DEMOLISH.COM, EMIR.COM, DARM.COM, BRIDE.COM, ADVISE.COM, FLUTE.COM, LOANTAP.COM, JEWEL.COM,
ITEM.COM, PIANO.COM, DEVOTE.COM, VTOK.COM, ATHLETE.COM, BONJOUR.COM, VALENTINE.COM, DUST.COM, DETECT.COM, VIAJE.COM, MESSAGE.COM
The court ordered that the domain names are to be locked pending further order of the court. Accordingly, we have locked the domain names.
If you have any questions regarding these actions or this court case, please contact the Court or Plaintiff’s Counsel directly. Contact information for Plaintiff’s Counsel can be found below:
Puneet Agarwal
** email removed **
Kind regards,
Lisa
Disputes Administrator
GoDaddy”
When I pressed them on there being no such legal ruling or court order, they quoted their UTOS:
“Per Section 14 of GoDaddy’s Universal Terms of Service (“UTOS”), we reserve the right to lock domain names to defend any legal action or threatened legal action without consideration for whether such legal action or threatened legal action is eventually determined to be with or without merit.
“
I had a registrar back in the day named launchpad.com and sold it with the sale of hostgator.com. I don’t think anyone could ever picture something like this happening and it really doesn’t make sense to have a registrar for less than 150 domains.
Had the domains that I bought before I launched Create been with Namecheap or Epik, this would never have happened!
I’m positive Puneet is insane. He has sent me thousands upon thousands of emails, messages, calls, etc, etc. Many of these messages involve death threats, talking about praying to the devil, drugs, pictures of mutilated naked bodies, and all kinds of craziness. In a few of the messages, he told me he got in trouble for waiting outside Prime Minister Modi’s private house and office for trying to talk to him. I’m not sure I would have even believed this if it wasn’t for him sending over a document that was an official complaint against the officer that questioned him for harassment!
Paul Nicks did post as well:
After reading everything here and in the article, I wanted to address some of the questions swirling around about this.
There were many factors in deciding if we locked domains or kept domains locked in the India case between Mr. Oxley and Mr. Agarwal.
For instance, a U.S. federal court denied Mr. Oxley’s request for an order requiring GoDaddy to unlock the domains. If Mr. Oxley had been able to obtain a court order requiring us to unlock the domains, we would have gladly done it. The fact he was unable to do so suggests how much more complicated this issue is than is mentioned in the article. It’s not just monetary issues, but demands for the cancellation of the domain registrations at issue.
We understand how important your domain names are to you. We don’t make the decision to lock or unlock any domain name lightly. GoDaddy, along with other registrars, like NameCheap, Web.com, MarkMonitor and even VeriSign, reserve the right to lock domains in response to notification of a legal dispute.
In fact, it is the industry standard to ensure that registration rights for domain names are protected and maintained during the pendency of a legal dispute. Locking domains protects all parties until the legal dispute is resolved.
We also want to assure everyone that when a domain is locked, the goal is to keep the registration information at status quo. If the registrant would like to make changes to their DNS, they can contact our team to make them. They are able to renew the domain names. The domain and any associated web/mail services continue to function normally.
We understand Mr. Oxley’s frustration. No one wants to be in this situation, but the systems that we and the industry have in place are there for your protection.
Namecheap was also asked to lock some of Mr.Oxley’s domain names, they refused.
From the post on JamesNames.com
Standing aside, it also seems like no actual court order exists.
I understand that after Oxley moved his domains to Namecheap, Agarwal contacted Namecheap asking for Oxley’s names to be locked, a request that Namecheap declined. I contacted Namecheap for comment. I was told:
“Namecheap always puts our customers first, protecting their right, freedoms and valuable digital assets such as domain names. We have a proven track record of doing the right thing by our customers that includes fighting for their rights in court when deemed necessary. We do not lock or disable customer domains on a whim without the correct legal requirement.”
So many are asking the question why doesn’t GoDaddy stand with their customers? What is really interesting is Oxley’s reply to Nicks.
Hi Paul,
You said “For instance, a U.S. federal court denied Mr. Oxley’s request for an order requiring GoDaddy to unlock the domains.”
Let me understand this…..
Part of why you locked my domains before January 9th, 2020 is because of what a judge said 10 months later on 11/24/2020? The Judge wanted to make sure Puneet was served and requested proof of service, which required us to get a Hague certificate. It’s not easy to serve someone in India that doesn’t want to be served. We just received the Hague certificate back a few days ago, and the case can now proceed in America to get you the court order that you demand. This has also been Covid times with lockdowns, court shutdowns, and all kinds of uncertainty delaying a court order.
I have some questions for you……..
Godaddy initially claimed there was a court order to lock my domains.
Is Godaddy continuing to take the stance that there is a court order to lock my domains? yes or no, please.
Is this an official response from Godaddy? Yes or No, please.
Did you have to get permission from GoDaddy prior to this post?
Have you seen any signed contracts between Puneet or myself? Yes or no.
I requested this to be escalated to your CEO back in March of 2020. Is he aware of this situation? Yes or no answer, please.
” If the registrant would like to make changes to their DNS, they can contact our team to make them.
6. If this is true, why did you all ignore my request on December 8th, 2020 to change my DNS for detect.com? I still haven’t had a response from you on this! This is one of the domain names I have sold pending your locks being lifted. Can you please make the emailed change request?
7. Why did you all take the courtesy to respond to Puneet when you locked my domains, and yet as a customer, you never notified me? You failed to inform me on both the original locks and the recent one of create.com a few weeks ago. Godaddy still hasn’t responded to my email from February 19th on why create.com was locked. Can you please tell me why? Was there another imaginary court order you aren’t able to produce?
“They are able to renew the domain names. “
I am not able to renew the locked domains, which is why I emailed you on april 21st, 2020, requesting you all to do so. You still have not renewed these names. You all ensured they would be auto-renewed at expiration; however, I do not feel comfortable considering how incompetent you all have been to date. Can you please renew these names for me as requested using the balance I have on file!!!
” but demands for the cancellation of the domain registrations at issue.
This is the first I’ve heard this! Why am I just now being told this on a public forum? The way I’m interrupting this, is now that all this has gone public, there’s a chance that over $10mm worth of my domains may be deleted by godaddy????? PLEASE DO NOT DELETE MY DOMAINS!
I may not be able to respond for a day or two. It’s my 38th birthday in a few hours, and I’m set to go off-grid camping with my five-year-old little girl any minutes now when she arrives from Houston. I plan on climbing a small mountain tomorrow that should have recpetion and hope to check in at such time if needed.
GoDaddy has certainly opened a can of worms here, maybe they had to I am not a lawyer. But from a public relations standpoint this is a potential nightmare.
It’s another one of those threads that wakes many up to something new they never knew was possible.
Brad Mugford summed things up best:
This is a quick summary, as far as I can tell.
The registrar is based in the US.
The registry is based in the US.
The registrant is based in the US.
The complainant filed a case in an Indian court related to a business dispute.
There is no court order. The defendant has not even been served yet.
Even if there was a court order, I fail to see how it would have any standing in this case.
GoDaddy for some reason not only locked the domains, without a court order, they also locked the domain Create.com which does not even appear to be named in the suit.
I am not really sure WTF GoDaddy is doing here. It makes any domain owner, from the largest investor to the smallest end user far less secure with their assets.
Brad
WTF did I just read? Someone in another country can spend $12 to do this and godaddy complies? It must not be law or namecheap would have had to do the same.
Thanks for posting I don’t go to namepros.
How is any of this legal? Thx
I’ve got a solution:
Buy him and his lawyer tickets to Phoenix and tell them to meet Jimmy Hoffa for coffee outside GoDaddy’s headquarters in the desert.
There’s a few guys in N. Jersey who could accommodate you
Hello Raymond,
Thank You
This added information you posted is top notch. JAS 3/6/2021
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (CONTACT GROUP)
We don’t Follow, We Create
Hello Raymond,
What people need to realize is that any unclaimed Domains go into their system as free float and could eventually become Go-daddys assets. Not where We would store any of our (.com EPA’s)
JAS 3/6/2021
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (CONTACT GROUP)
We don’t Follow, We Create
Yikes!
I always thought a rar had a given time frame for the complainant to move forward with the dispute or the lock was released? Maybe things have changed…
I recall a similar situation I had and after filing the dispute with the rar ( in that case netsol? cannot recall) we were given 90 days to proceed or the lock was removed.
Does GD not have this sort of thing in place to avoid situations like this.
Wow, just wow.
Is the ICA aware of this? This is an urgent problem that threatens the industry in a serious way.
Warren, Brad Mugford said he spoke to Zak
I can note here that based on the ‘very recent’ chatter I’ve heard from domainers with ‘big’ portfolios, if this isn’t resolved very soon, not only will the PR mess get bigger for GD, there will be a few registers gaining a lot of new domains under their management. Just sayin’.
Nobody has mentioned the legal position GoDaddy has put themselves in, locking domains with no court order, I am certain Mr. Oxley can take them to court big time, this is simply crazy.
Anybody from any country that doesn’t like you not selling them there desired name can do the same thing
and you are in for tens of thousands of dollars in fees and month or years of aggravation
unbelievable situation.
but should be noted: no professional domainer should have domains in GoDaddy.
That’s not true. Several top old school domainers use GoDaddy.
I have domains there only because Uniregistry was purchased by them but this is a great reason to move them.
Agree. The question is “where to” though.
Above.com has been pretty good.
If it is a mess of such a scale, doesn’t GoDaddy have a clear understanding of it as well? Hard to believe in their suicidal inclinations. Principles? Scandal PR campaign? Conspiracy? Or just plain stupidity and everything-permissible-for-us kind of thingy?
The registrar is based in the US.
The registry is based in the US.
The registrant is based in the US.
//////////////////
That is the problem, the registrar is based is the US, India and probably 100 other countries where the have offices and incorporated companies. It may well be a stretch to argue India is not an appropriate venue.
“They went too far this time.”
Godaddy’s monopoly, shows us how little they care.
Inflicting harm to the industry, in addition to themselves.
Samer
Unbelievable. Certainly gives me pause about doing any more business with GD.
Who’s to say other registrars won’t do the same thing? 🤔
GoDaddy is a nightmare of a company and will shut you down overnight on a $11 claim fron India without telling you shit… They make money when you register names, when you renew them and when you delete them they auction them and pocket the proceeds. They’re the worst, period. I transferred out all my domains years ago and I slept better ever since. After this episode it’s fair to say they lost whatever credit was left in the domainer community. Shameful.
This whole situation has been bouncing in my mind.
Yesterday got 2 emails from friends that have 6k & 4K domains at GD, asking if this is really true and if
this really can happen.
Now just imagine, Brext Oxley, is a known investor, that has domains worth millions of dollars and
GD doesn’t inform him that his names are locked for month, doesn’t respond his emails, he requests
that his ultra valuable domains be renewed WITH FUNDS HE HAS IN HIS ACCOUNT and they don’t
follow this basic request to protect the names of a customer, but they are quick to act on behalf somebody they have never seen or know that spent 12 dollars doing a filling without proof of agreement or contract, you and me would be really screwed, I believe they acted without translating the full document and realising that this was not a court order
To make matters worse, Puneet has been found guilty of cybersquatting by two different UDRP panels.
None of our names are at GoDaddy. None of them ever will be.
Hi David,
After this i will not be using godaddy also for sure. Can you advise which one to use?
Thanks,
Fatih
We’ve been with Moniker forever, but I just wrote them and asked what they would’ve done in this situation. I am impressed that Namecheap told the guy to go pound sand.
” I am impressed that Namecheap told the guy to go pound sand.”
huh
Translation in Hindi
pound sand means F Off….
Where do you have yours?
So glad my valuable portfolio is at Namecheap.com who work for their customers not against them.
I moved my domains away from Godaddy during one of their previous fiascos in which a domainer or domainers got the short end of the stick a few years ago.
But since then I have domain names that I have won at auction or bought from 3rd parties that ended up there. I will be transferring them out.
Godaddy is the biggest, but they are not the best nor are they the safest IMHO!
I have always believed that their appraisal tool alone has hurt the overall value of domains for all of us. Not sure why any domainer would support that!
I am sure they will lose many thousands of domain registrations this week and if it hits the media and their stock, then just grab the popcorn!
Hi Rick,
This is really funny and scary. My company domain is with godaddy.
Can you tell or advise which one to use?
Thanks,
Fatih
I bought domains from them that turned out to be stolen. Told me to eat it.
Is great to hear the unbiased opinion from David & Rick in this fiasco.
For sure would be great for all of us to hear the opinion of the known attorney’s.
How is it possible for GD to have taken this level of action without a clear court ruling/order.
What are the implications of not notifying a customer that his assets have been locked for month.
What are the implications of notifying GD to renew names with funds in the account and not responding on this request.
What’s the customers recourse when they email GD and no response is received for month, etc.
Your opinions would be highly valued, many people are just in shock, the domains Mr. Oxley owns is just been locked out of your multi-million dollar house or business without a court order.
If they can do this to someone like Brent Oxley with those domains i cant imagine what they will do to us. 🙂
Funny and scary. Pauls reply is worse. How this can be the worlds biggest registrar?
I have to move my domains asap.
It might be an excellent time for Epik or Namecheap to offer a promotional transfer discount right now, voting with your feet is your best source of power now. Every other registrar seems to be able to apply the rules of common sense, due diligence and a bit of nuanced thinking, rather than this bureaucratic rule following red tape BS that could easily be avoided.
My advice to Mr. Oxley, file a lawsuit against GoDaddy and that Indian guy.
Seek damages, compensation, so on. Both will learn their lessons the hard way.
Then get the media to take it up. That will kick GoDaddy straight in their face.
You have the resources to match them Mr. Oxley
The arrogance of GoDaddy is mind boggling. I sold DUST.com (one of the names in dispute.) to Brent mono e mono. I never heard of this person in India. GoDaddy needs to address this as they are becoming part of the scam in my opinion.
Mr. Oxley should seriously sue these guys Paul Nicks and other Godaddy executives who have communicated with him. In other words, these Godaddy executives should go bankrupt.
Mr. Oxley, you know “eye for an eye”, “tooth for a tooth” is the GOAL.
I’m concerned is Godaddy trying to make money by locking Mr. Oxley names after expiration?
Copy/Paste post from NamePros and my twitter, just trying to ensure I’m engaging in as many forums as possible.
In the last 36 hours, we’ve been having some serious discussions about our policies, processes, and ultimately, how we can better serve our customers while protecting everyone’s legal rights. We have already engaged the ICA and other industry experts to determine if there are any changes we should and could make. As we make progress, we will keep the community posted.
For Brent, I want you know that no domain name will be deleted. Consistent with our policy, we have paid for renewals and will continue to pay for renewals as necessary. We’re keeping them safe, and leaving them up and running.
>>>>>>In the last 36 hours, we’ve been having some serious discussions about our policies, processes, and ultimately, how we can better serve our customers while protecting everyone’s legal rights.<<<<<<<<
Lol, Paul Nicks
This should have been done years ago not now. Wait till this case settles down and Mr. Oxley will ensure Godaddy is I'mYourDaddy.
Wait and see when it unfolds!!
Who is this guy from India doing this extortion and I bet all his friends will be doing the same.
If he can do it, anybody can do it NOW!!
Wired.com ,NPR and other news media will pick up this story how Godaddy gave in and is the worst company to do business!
There are new comments by Brent in the Namepros thread and the other party has joined.
If you haven’t read this post it outlines an actual relationship that’s kind of wild.
https://www.namepros.com/threads/brent-oxley-loses-access-to-create-com-plus-millions-of-dollars-worth-of-his-domains.1230431/page-17#post-8190744
This is big news in Canada and is being discussed on our Canadian forums and clubhouse. The most senior domainers with large portfolios have expressed interest to move away from godaddy.
I think godaddy needs to do more than unlock the domains I think they need to give assurances to the domaining industry. If that does not happen I fear they will become shunned by the domaining industry.
A well know domainer that most of you know called me Saturday and asked me if I was moving away.
I told him I have not come this far by making rushed decisions but I will definitely be watching the outcome and deciding which company best reflects my interests moving forward.
A Canadian Registrar just chimed in…
“There is absolutely no circumstance in which we would deny clients access to their domains without a direct order from a Canadian court.”
https://dn.ca/post/5589/#p5589
Most of our names like Cost.com, Sample.com, Nashville.com, etc are at Moniker. I asked them what they would do in a similar situation and this is what they emailed me:
Hi David,
Generally speaking, it is difficult to comment on an issue where we don’t have all of the information, as well as to give a catchall answer as we do assess each case on its merit. That said, I appreciate this is an important issue and that you want to understand our stance so I’ll do my best to give you a guide.
In most circumstances we will not act on court orders regarding domain ownership for gTLDs as that is what the UDRP process was developed for and we prefer this as a mechanism for resolving disputes. We also, generally speaking, do not act on court orders from courts which do not have jurisdiction over our legal entity, which is based in the US, unless of course there was obvious and damaging criminal use of a domain using our services (e.g. Child Pornography, financial fraud, etc.) . Again, it is hard to say in all circumstances, but it is very unlikely that we would place any restrictions on a domain based on a court order from an outside jurisdiction. Registrants are actually protected from restriction of movement of a domain by ICANN rules and we are in compliance with all of the requirements of the ICANN accreditation agreement.
Please be assured that we value our customers very much and understand that for many, domain investment is how they make a living, pay their bills, put their kids through college, etc. Our support teams understand this distinction and take the time to look into the individual circumstances of every customer and domain.
I hope this helps and I apologize that I can’t be more direct.
Sincerely,
Marc McCutcheon
Head of Retail