Get Your Own Domain Name

Change Your Registrar

A little-known feature of the newly competitive domain registration market is that you don't have to stick with a registrar if you don't want to. If all you want from your domain registrar is for it to maintain a database record and let you change contact information or host server addresses every so often, go with something cheap and usable. That isn't necessarily what Network Solutions gives you. And with some of the competitive features new registrars are offering--Web site hosting, cheap e-mail service deals, and of course, lower prices--the grass can be greener elsewhere.

That's why ICANN mandated that domain holders be able to switch registrars--provided they wait a minimum of 60 days after signing up, that is. So, on day 61 of your domain holding experience, here's what you can do.

To transfer domains, start at the site of the registrar you want to move to. That outfit will provide you with an application and a letter of authorization. The documents must be printed out and physically filled out with valid contact information for the administrative and billing contacts. There's always a fee involved, too--usually a one-year registration that extends the existing lease on the domain. Some registrars (such as Dotster) also charge an administrative fee.

The new registrar then forwards the information to the old registrar and asks for the record to be signed over. The request form will contain all the contact information for the existing domain record--and if any of it doesn't match, the transfer will come screeching to a halt. The old registrar then asks for confirmation from the domain's administrative contact (that's you), and upon getting it, transfers the record over.

Now, not all registrars are geared up to transfer domains--and some of the newer ones aren't making it a big priority. It's not an easily automated process. Most registrars live in fear that cyberterrorists will hijack a domain using the registrar transfer method, so they often make the process inconvenient. Transferring a domain is harder than registering one, certainly. Transfer documents aren't Web forms, they're either PDF files or text sent in the body of an e-mail message. They must be filled out, signed, and faxed. And many registrars ask for copies of a photo ID to be attached to the application. Register.com even asks for the photo ID copy to be notarized.

If all that seems like a trial, it is. But if you've gone through the effort and expense of registering a domain, it's nice to know the registrar is taking steps to make sure nobody else snatches it from you.

Matt Lake maintains the domains and Web sites of several nonprofit organizations (and some of his own that he hopes will turn a profit).