how can I renew a domain name for someone else?

[mcveigh]

I'm not sure how to word the title....
friend one has a doamin name he register 5 yrs ago, it's coming up to expire.
a friend of his actually did the registering and hosting at the time.

I have been hosting it for the past year and the guy who originally hosted has disappeared.
but he is listed as the registrant.

how can I take over the domain and renew it?

I still might be able to get hold of this guy before the domain expires. If I can what do we need to do so I can take it over?

 

[Lithium381]

is it a tight name or something obscure, if the latter, just wait for it to expire and then just buy it....if not you'll have to get it transfered to your name(i think!)

 

[iwearnosox]

You need to be the contact info on the account, or change it to you. Outside of that you're sol.

 

[mcveigh]

the real owner was the one who used his credit card to purchase it originally...might that help?

 

[iwearnosox]

Originally posted by: mcveigh
the real owner was the one who used his credit card to purchase it originally...might that help?

No. If you're not the contact info and you can't change it you have no recourse other than to wait for it to expire.

 

[Torghn]

What's the domain? I'll renew it for you.

 

[sciencewhiz]

If your friend is also on the domain listing (such as administrative contact) then you can get it transferred. However, if the original person is listed for all contacts, then you won't be able to transfer it at all.

Also, you can't transfer an expired domain, and it gets harder to transfer the closer you get to it expiring.

 

[Joker81]

You could somehow just pay for it again. Didn't someguy pay for hotmail.com once since it had expired?