RESOLVED

[Albert Wesker]

Resolved

I have contacted @namesilo and @Kristaps @ NameSilo as well.

 

[Future Sensors]

What is the domain name?

 

[Albert Wesker]

What is the domain name?

I sent those details privately and the ticket number to @namesilo and @Kristaps @ NameSilo. I prefer not to post my ticket number, domain name or information on a public thread if that's okay with you.

 

[Future Sensors]

I sent those details privately and the ticket number to @namesilo and @Kristaps @ NameSilo. I prefer not to post my ticket number, domain name or information on a public thread if that's okay with you.

Well, that's OK. What would you like from us by posting this here publicly, if you have already contacted NameSilo privately?

 

[Albert Wesker]

Well, that's OK. What would you like from us by posting this here publicly, if you have already contacted NameSilo privately?

Well first off I appreciate your response on this. I think that this point I just need to get in touch with someone at Namesilo urgently to fix this. I have contacted their support email, DM'd the 2 users above and contacted their chat. I am certain whatever the issue is that it's minor and can easily be fixed. I don't understand why they needed to deactivate the entire domain without any explanation or notice.

On a side note, being that we receive DMCA / GDPR complaints, any host or DNS provider or company we work with we contact in advance that if complaints happen, what is their procedure for us to handle those. Namesilo said that they would forward us complaints if there were any issues. They did not do this. Since the time we moved our business to namesilo, they never reached out to us once with any issues. Now without any explanation or notice, they deactivated our domain.

We're devastated with what has happened over here. We just want to get this issue resolved.

 

[AEProgram]

With legal teams at registrars only serious legal action will make a difference. Hire an attorney RIGHT NOW and start legal proceedings in court against NameSilo and it's owners. Do not wait anymore. I know many that have gone through this with registrars. Their domain is not a TM, but on their site, some user posted content, usually from some movie and the next thing you know the domain is disabled because the attorneys decided not to use the regular DMCA form but contact the host, upstream providers and registrar.

When you get the name back, move it to Godaddy. They deal with this more often and respect the law but have more experience with this.

If the legal team that got your name disabled violated the DMCA process, you have grounds for a lawsuit.

If Namesilo did not contact you before doing this, and your story is as innocent as you posted, they deserve to go out of business.

 

[NickB]

Wonder if it is a .org domain domain - if it's the one I looked up then it is a blatant TM - if not then........

If it's a TM dispute the only way they can do this if ICANN have been in touch and said there is an ongoing UDRP dispute?

And if this was the case you would of received some kind of notification about it......They even state on Namesilo's website that they will not consider TM abuse complaints unless ICANN have been in touch.....

"We are also not a shortcut around due process. We are not an arbiter of trademark, copyright, intellectual property, etc. disputes. There are established processes in place for dealing with many common disputes, but we are not to be used as a shortcut around those processes."

They can't deal with DMCA complaints as they are a registrar and not the website host so should forward any complaints to the owner anyway.....

 

[Albert Wesker]

With legal teams at registrars only serious legal action will make a difference. Hire an attorney RIGHT NOW and start legal proceedings in court against NameSilo and it's owners. Do not wait anymore. I know many that have gone through this with registrars. Their domain is not a TM, but on their site, some user posted content, usually from some movie and the next thing you know the domain is disabled because the attorneys decided not to use the regular DMCA form but contact the host, upstream providers and registrar.

When you get the name back, move it to Godaddy. They deal with this more often and respect the law but have more experience with this.

If the legal team that got your name disabled violated the DMCA process, you have grounds for a lawsuit.

If Namesilo did not contact you before doing this, and your story is as innocent as you posted, they deserve to go out of business.

I have been 100% transparent as best as I can here. I have received 0 contact from them. They just deactivated the domain without any explanation, email or notice. I speculate it might be a DMCA issue or a content complaint related issue. Outside of that, I can't think of any other issue. Besides that, our site has hundreds of competitors doing the same thing but yes they are with other DNS providers it seems.

I have tried to contact them on all support channels, social media channels, trying to get ahold of someone who can assist me and they all say the same thing. Wait up to 24 hours for someone to get back with you.

Fortunately I have an attorney already in the State of Arizona which worked with me on some past issues / big transfers not related to this. I have already reached out to them in urgency. I agree I cannot afford to wait here and have already read up that arbitration / ICANN complaint would be the next steps.

Thing is all I want to do is get this resolved. I'm positive whatever issue it is that we will get this fixed. If they don't want our business then at least let us move the domain off Namesilo.

 

[Albert Wesker]

Wonder if it is a .org domain domain - if it's the one I looked up then it is a blatant TM - if not then........

It's a .com, a good quality .com domain.

If it's a TM dispute the only way they can do this if ICANN have been in touch and said there is an ongoing UDRP dispute?

And if this was the case you would of received some kind of notification about it......They even state on Namesilo's website that they will not consider TM abuse complaints unless ICANN have been in touch.....

"We are also not a shortcut around due process. We are not an arbiter of trademark, copyright, intellectual property, etc. disputes. There are established processes in place for dealing with many common disputes, but we are not to be used as a shortcut around those processes."

I'm 99.9% sure it's not an ICANN complaint or TM dispute. We have received no contact regarding such a dispute. As a reminder, we have owned this domain for 10+ years.

They can't deal with DMCA complaints as they are a registrar and not the website host so should forward any complaints to the owner anyway.....

That's the only thing I can speculate. According to the live chat team, if abuse receives a complaint, they can deactivate your domain. As far as I have been told up to this point by their team:

The chat support with limited access has said the following:

Yes, we have. Our team has to do due diligence manually therefore it might take some time for them to respond to you.

The domain has been deactivated on the ground of a breach of our terms and conditions.

Trademark

 

[NickB]

It's a .com, a good quality .com domain.



I'm 99.9% sure it's not an ICANN complaint or TM dispute. We have received no contact regarding such a dispute. As a reminder, we have owned this domain for 10+ years.



That's the only thing I can speculate. According to the live chat team, if abuse receives a complaint, they can deactivate your domain. As far as I have been told up to this point by their team:

The chat support with limited access has said the following:

Yes, we have. Our team has to do due diligence manually therefore it might take some time for them to respond to you.

The domain has been deactivated on the ground of a breach of our terms and conditions.

Trademark

That's messed up, it clearly states they can't deal with any direct complaints from organisation on their abuse page - ask them if they have received any official notice, if they have not then they can't do this, if they have ask for the details.......

https://www.namesilo.com/report_abuse.php

GL

 

[Albert Wesker]

That's messed up, it clearly states they can't deal with any direct complaints from organisation on their abuse page - ask them if they have received any official notice, if they have not then they can't do this, if they have ask for the details.......

GL

I'm not entirely sure what the issue is. All I was told by was this and to email their support:

(Cant enclose image)

All I want is this resolved. If they can do that, I'll gladly mark all my issues resolved with them.

If there are any issues we will gladly resolve them immediately. If there is content that needs to be removed, we will take it down immediately. If you request for us to resolve any issues, we will resolve them immediately. If it's something else and you cannot support our domain, then please allow us to transfer the domain off namesilo which will be done immediately.

 

[Albert Wesker]

It won't let me post the image of the chat.

 

[Albert Wesker]

I just received a notice of the trademark complaint from support which was filed with the abuse team at Namesilo.

As mentioned above, we have 22 million threads on the site. A company filed a single complaint over a single post that someone else posted, the company worded it to sound like we were doing something illegal and without any notice or explanation, Namesilo deactivated the domain.

The company could have directly reported it to us through our DMCA takedown links, this was never done (I checked). They went straight to Namesilo and reported it. Namesilo instead of forwarding us this complaint just deactivated the site didn't respond back to us or give us anytime to rectify the situation.

Per Namesilo Abuse Reporting Procedures

============================================

All abuse reports must be made via our abuse reporting form.

Once we receive abuse complaints, we follow the steps as listed below:

• We determine if the complaint is directly related to usage of our services. For example, as we do not provide web site hosting, we are not the party storing or distributing any allegedly-infringing content, sending out email you may consider spam, etc.
• If the complaint is directly-related to our services, we will contact the registrant and/or account holder and ask them to respond to the complaint within 72 hours. If they respond, and we find their response satisfactory as not being in violation of our terms, then we close the complaint.
• If we do not receive a response within 72 hours from the account holder or registrant, and we find the report(s) in the complaint as in violation of our terms, then we may take additional action at that time.

Please note that we are not a shortcut around due process. We are not an arbiter of trademark, copyright, intellectual property, etc. disputes. There are established processes in place for dealing with many common disputes, but we are not to be used as a shortcut around those processes. We are also not a law enforcement investigative body. We are a domain registrar. We do not believe it is the role of domain registrars to determine what is legal and what is not. This is the purview of the legal process within the locales in which alleged offenses occur. Please do not contact us with the goal of circumventing the legal process. Remember that we are a domain registrar and not a government agency, a police force or a judge of legal matters. Please do not ask us to determine if content on a web site is legal or not. In the vast majority of such cases, that determination is not objective and there are nearly always areas of disagreement between parties. As a domain registrar, we are not to be used to render decisions on these matters unless directed to do so via a court or similar agency of adequate jurisdiction, or indisputable evidence that a violation of our terms has occurred.

============================================

 

[Albert Wesker]

They specifically state they will forward us the complaint and give us 72 hours to respond. This never happened. They just deactivated the domain without any explanation or reasoning.

 

[Albert Wesker]

Once again we're pleading with @namesilo to do the right thing and fix this.

Any issues we will gladly resolve and if it's a domain you cannot support on your platform, we will be happy to transfer the domain to another DNS provider.

 

[Albert Wesker]

This issue is resolved.

Eventually you'll get ahold of a reasonable agent in live chat at Namesilo and they'll fix the issue.

You can lock this thread.

 

[Jannes]

Registrars can be as fickle as social media platforms, apparently. So much for the domainers' pet argument that you should build your business on your own domain. Okay I exaggerate a bit.

 

[Mister Funsky]

@Albert Wesker , thanks for the update and for posting all the details as you moved through this issue. I'm happy for you this was resolved.

 

[Gabriel360]

This issue is resolved.

Eventually you'll get ahold of a reasonable agent in live chat at Namesilo and they'll fix the issue.

You can lock this thread.

Happy to see this.

Is the issue specifically related to Trademarks or just a general violation of their T&Cs?

If it's related to trademarks, then NameSilo misbehaved 'cause they don't have the authority to make decisions related to trademarks. That's what UDRP is for.

Also, they violated their own T&Cs by failing to inform you of the issue and NOT giving you the 72 hours window to fix the issue.

Best thing you can do right now is to move your domain names out of the registrar. It makes no sense to suddenly deactivate a domain name with an active website on it without any notification or warning.

It's bad practice. Leave them.

Finally if you can afford it, sue them for damages.

 

[Albert Wesker]

Happy to see this.

Is the issue specifically related to Trademarks or just a general violation of their T&Cs?

If it's related to trademarks, then NameSilo misbehaved 'cause they don't have the authority to make decisions related to trademarks. That's what UDRP is for.

Also, they violated their own T&Cs by failing to inform you of the issue and NOT giving you the 72 hours window to fix the issue.

Best thing you can do right now is to move your domain names out of the registrar. It makes no sense to suddenly deactivate a domain name with an active website on it without any notification or warning.

It's bad practice. Leave them.

Finally if you can afford it, sue them for damages.

• Company filed a complaint with Namesilo Abuse over an user violating their trademark listing a service for sale that wasn't authorized by the company. The company believed this person was acting in bad faith and using their brand name without their authorization. Of course, the content posted wasn't by us but a random new member who made a thread. The company didn't file a complaint with us or our host just likely looked up our whois and filed with the DNS provider.

• Abuse took action immediately upon receiving the complaint it appears didn't forward us any complaint. According to their live chat, if the complaint is severe enough, they have grounds to immediately deactivate the domain pending an investigation on their end.

• 6-7 hours after domain was deactivated, got ahold of someone in live chat who resolved the issue within 30 minutes.

It might be bad practice but they resolved the issue. I will consider the matter closed.

 

[namesilo]

Just to clarify the matter here for the rest of the community - the reason for the takedown in this particular case is because we received a phishing and trademark abuse claim pertaining to this domain name. Phishing abuse is against our T&Cs so our abuse team took action. We have since worked with the registrant to remove the infringing content and re-activated the domain name. We have also added an exception to this domain and will forward future reports based on our conversation with the registrant.

 

[Future Sensors]

We have also added an exception to this domain and will forward future reports based on our conversation with the registrant.

Why didn't you first contact the registrant, in this case?

 

[AEProgram]

Just to clarify the matter here for the rest of the community - the reason for the takedown in this particular case is because we received a phishing and trademark abuse claim pertaining to this domain name. Phishing abuse is against our T&Cs so our abuse team took action. We have since worked with the registrant to remove the infringing content and re-activated the domain name. We have also added an exception to this domain and will forward future reports based on our conversation with the registrant.

Might be that the person that wanted the site taken down because of the content, posted the phishing link because they know hosts and registrars take different action on those.

Namesilo, either go on the record that you will contact domain owners first and train your employees for this or I will transfer out a few large portfolios from namesilo and urge everyone I know to do the same. Basically now anyone can take any domain down that hosts an area that users can post by simply posting a phishing link.

This is how scammers get pages removed from google too.

 

[Albert Wesker]

Might be that the person that wanted the site taken down because of the content, posted the phishing link because they know hosts and registrars take different action on those.

I can bring clarity to this:

- The user who posted the content didn't post any links so there was no phishing links involved. We permanently deleted the post so I can't go back and check but if I remember right they were offering a service as a third party which they weren't authorized to offer this service. It wasn't that bad of a post simply someone posted an ad.

- The company could have used our DMCA takedown links which are on every page of our site or the REPORT function on our site which is on every thread topic but they just reported it directly to Namesilo.

- The complaint this company sent to Namesilo said the following: "This web page could be used for phishing, credential harvesting, malware distribution, or other internet crimes." None of this is true and they used the keyword "could". I think Namesilo team should recognize that if someone files a complaint with you and uses the word "could" or "may" in their complaints which is stating an opinion, it shouldn't be regarding as a a serious complaint and they should allow their clients at least 24-72 hours to respond back and defend themselves rather than deactivating the domain without notice.

Basically now anyone can take any domain down that hosts an area that users can post by simply posting a phishing link.

This is how scammers get pages removed from google too.

People can definitely use this as a weapon here to take down sites and all Namesilo needs to do is forward the complaints and allow their client 24-72 hours to respond back. Our host does, cloudflare does it, AWS does it, certainly Namesilo can implement this.

There are ways you can easily automate this as well with email piping connected to your support system connected to the account so limited work needs to be done to have a proper reporting system in place.

Complaint comes in, complaint automatically forwarded to the account holder, 72 hours to respond, sent email reply back which is then forwarded to complaining party and updated in Namesilo system as Responded Status. Namesilo doesn't even really need to get involved unless the complaining party escalates it.

Hopefully the Namesilo team makes adjustments and automates this process which a couple solid developers could implement such system in just a few weeks.

 

[Jannes]

This incident has been discussed at least here, on Reddit and BlackHatWorld, all well-indexed platforms on Google. And Namesilo thinks that some clarification is enough, no apology needed.

The name of the big corporation who abused the system should be disclosed.