They don't automatically expire. The registar has to fill out some paperwork to have a domain cancelled. Don't ask me why it is like that, all I know that it is like that.

But of course, you dont have to believe me , just look up the whois for any .NL domain and try and see if you can find an expiration date listed somewhere. You wont be able to find one , because they dont have one.

What I said is true, but is not as simplistic as you seem to assume. It is not because you are not paying for your renewals that nobody else is. The registrar still has to pay for it. So many dutch registrars are real assholes. They would let you register a domain, and then put in some little wording somewhere that it auto-renews UNLESS you indicate ONE MONTH before your one year is up that you dont want it anymore.


you are indeed assuming , unless you know the full details your speculation on this subject is not really relevant to this situation

then so are you and everyone else in thread since the op is the only one with the full details...


who knew the dutch .nl tld was so ass backwards.

don't involve me in your assumptions I was merely commenting that you have no way of knowing if the previous owner was paying the yearly registration fees like you stated

If this is the case then why are even bothering to ask? Don't be a dick.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Sorry I left you hanging with too many questions, I obviously didn't explain the situation good enough.

Here are the exact details:
- There is a restaurant chain called Name. Name is a generic word.
- They own the domain RestarauntName.nl
- I eat there a lot so I wondered one day who owns Name.nl
- Name.nl was owned by, what seemed like a studygroup or some frat house. A horrible looking site with just photos on it. It seemed like the site hadn't been updated since 2007/2008
- The previous owner, who mailed me yesterday, claims to be a non-profit organization. There's no way though that previous site was a non-profit organization site.
- Seeing as the domain looked inactive for a few years I mailed the host. It's the only thing that showed up on the Whois, the name of the host. So I mailed them asking to forward my interest in the domain to the current owner.
- That's when they mailed back and said they could transfer the domain.

Now the host in question isn't a small time teenage boy living in an attic with his 5 servers. It's a pretty solid and well-established company, so a complete amateur fuck up "looks" out of the question to me.

I'm about to get in touch with them to see if they really were the ones to fuck it up. If it's on them, I'll return the domain. If he made a mistake, it's his loss.

So in short, the restaurant owners have nothing to do with the previous domain and free dinners for life are never going to happen :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

The process of obtaining the domain took quite some time aswell. Plenty of time for them to realize they were making a mistake. Took about 2 weeks, had to sign contracts for SIDN and stuff..

I think most likely the previous owners were not actively paying renewal fees, and thus the registrar took hold of it. But with the SIDN rules being so stupid you have to make an active effort to get a domain to be deleted they probably just never got around to it. Just keep the domain!

especially if the registrar that handed it over to you is a big time operation who know the rules well

Get a lawyer

Question? Are you so in need for money that the few extra bucks you make off this domain is that important? Host rob people all the time of there domains, and for idiot reasons to. Lets say even if the domain expired, lets also say most likely hi host never informed him as his old site was still up was it not?

Honestly the fact you are even asking this question esp gfy makes me think that you are either unethical, or are about to cross that line between morality and a peaceful soul, or greed, knowing you will do anything, even sell out your own mother to make a quick buck

I think we have all met these people. Now ask yourself which one is happier. Give the poor guy his domain back.

:GFYBand:GFYBand:food-smil10

You should be careful.

I find it funny a lot of people say you're an idiot for asking certain questions on GFY. While I agree there's a lot of trolls and what not on here, there's a TON of knowledge aswell. You'd better start using it wisely.

I'm not after a quick buck (nor do I need it :1orglaugh:1orglaugh) or trying to screw him over. What I'm trying to do is not getting screwed over myself. If he hasn't paid for his domain for a year for example, that really is his own dumb fault 100%. If he now plays the victim card on me and blaming the host (lying), that doesn't work well with me.

If he truly got screwed over by the host, I won't hesitate and give 'his' domain back instantly. I'm still waiting for a reply from them to see what happened. I just don't want to get lied to, I can't stand that.

I'm confused as hell. The host emailed me saying the previous owner cancelled the domain with them.

I'm with you on this Guy! :thumbsup

It's a matter of finding out if this chap is a liar trying to scam you or someone who has been screwed over by his host.

Are you sure the guy emailing you were the rightful owner?
Ask the host if the previous owner were the guy emailing you since there are discrepancies in his story maybe it were someone like you thinking about the domain but hadn't thought of emailing the host.

If its a well run host they will not screw up things like this and make sure its a proper transfer with docs and all.

The question isn't money v ethics then (ethics should ALWAYS be the winner there, though seems like you are of the same opinion anyway), which is why you're getting some of the responses you are.

This decision should be based on the amount of ethical consideration that you can afford.

Would return a domain...
If u sow from start it's someone u could be ethic,give them a call and tell them to renew.
My 2 cents.

Not sure if this was mentioned yet, but if you set the price to a low amount, for example 750 eu, they might just pay and skip all the legal bullshit. If they do have a trademark, you're going to lose it anyway.

There's no trademark Marie :) Host said the previous owner cancelled the domain, I'm waiting for proof now.

Still talking about ethics?? Come on, porn people ...

Now knowing that you dutch do things ass backwards with your .nl domains... it's pretty simple and comes down to one question. Was it really expired, if yes then do whatever you want with the domain. If it wasn't expired and the register made a mistake then you would be better off giving it back. Apparently you guys complicate domains so much you make it sound like you couldn't even tell if it was expired??

whole thing sounds like bs.. did the previous owner say how the host 'screwed up'?

like i said. keep the domain.