During some routine maintenance on this client’s domain names (i.e. name server and contact changes), we realized that the domain was not registered to the corporation, but rather an individual who had not been employed there for a number of years. The client requested that I change the contacts to reflect the corporation’s ownership and list the name of the CEO. Simple, right?

Apparently not. I logged into the Register.com control panel to update the registrant’s contact information, but received a notice saying that the domain was “locked” and that the registrant could only be changed with a “change of registrant” form. This was confusing. Why was the domain name locked? There was certainly no setting in the control panel to lock or unlock a domain name. This seemed like an arbitrary setting with no rationale. Perhaps the domain name was registered through another registrar later absorbed into Register.com, or it was a setting that was chosen when the domain name was first registered. Either way, it didn’t seem practical and nobody was able to explain it, including a couple of otherwise friendly technical support representatives from Register.com.

Giving up on the online change, I looked at the change of registrant form. New problem -- this form needed to be completed and filed by the existing registrant! This would not work in our case, as the employee left the business and there has been no contact with him ever since. In fact, I would think that this is the case in most scenarios where an employee leaves the company, so unless a transaction is being made by two separate parties, this seemed like a bad method for Register.com to facilitate this change in the first place.

Having nowhere else to turn, I dialed customer support and started asking questions. Surely there must have been another customer facing this issue in the past, and I thought that company representatives could help me through by using some type of loophole. I had no such luck. One representative told me that I shouldn’t worry; as long as I had the username and password to log into the control panel, it didn’t matter whose name was on the account. Another representative told me that I could just fill out the form, leave out the current registrant’s information and explain the situation in the notes block; we realized that didn’t work when the form was promptly returned to me.

The third representative told me that I should follow the steps outlined in Register.com’s dispute policy. I examined this policy closely and concluded that the only way to make this change would be to file legal paperwork, appear in front of a district judge asserting the change, and send the results of the proceeding to Register.com.

Needless to say, we decided it was not worth the time and money to conduct all of this litigation just to change a name. Instead, I went forward with an alternative plan -- let’s transfer the domain name to another registrar that wouldn’t give us the runaround. Before doing so, I gave Register.com one final chance -- I called them, explained the situation and told them that I would be forced to transfer the domain names if they didn’t offer an alternative. The phone representative actually agreed with me and said that the best plan would be to transfer the names. So, I transferred the domain names to another registrar, updated the contact information, and completed the work.

I wanted to note that I sent Register.com an e-mail alerting them of this post and asking them if they wanted to comment. I haven’t received a response in the 24 hours since I sent it, but if I receive one I will be sure to post it.

A couple of closing points. First, the moral of the story -- unlike a decade ago, there are now hundreds of domain name registrars. Don’t let them bully you and have you jump through hoops; your time is precious. If your registrar won’t allow you to do what you need, find another one that will and transfer the names over. Transfers are quick and easy these days, and most registrars include a free year’s renewal with the transfer, so you’re not losing any money. Additionally, transfers are cheap, averaging about $9.00 per domain name.

Second, there is a larger issue. Companies must always balance the security of their business and their clients against functionality and convenience. If you have too much security, functionality and convenience suffer, driving away customers. With not enough security, you might make your customers happy in the short term but they’ll be running away with the first sign of trouble. In some business models, it is okay to lean a little bit more heavily towards one side, but there is always a limit. In this case, it might very well be that Register.com erred too much on the side of security and not heavily enough on the convenience side. After all, they lost a customer because of the issue. However, Register.com is a large company and might not mind losing a customer here and there for the sake of keeping domain name transactions secure. There is no right or wrong answer -- this is a strategy that many business should think about from time to time in regard to its own products.

If you have any comments, feel free to post -- I’d be happy to keep this discussion going!