Troubleshooting Domain Registration Issues

TNSGroup's Hosting Manual
http://www.hostingmanual.net/

Domain Registration Issues

The ultimate responsibility for registering your domain name and/or modifying your domain name registration record to reflect your domain's "home" on our servers is yours. Domain name registration is performed by independent third-party organizations. We have no control over the process and can accept no responsibility or liability for errors, omissions, or problems that occur in the process.

The services that we provide include assignment of a unique Internet Protocol number to your account, allocation of disk storage space, a high-speed connection to the internet with your own allocation of bandwidth, and all of the other features and benefits associated with your particular account. These services do not include domain name registration fees (except for qualifying accounts) or any guarantees or assurances related to domain name registration. Our services are provided, and you must be responsible for payment of those services, regardless of the status of your domain name registration.

Wherever possible, we will do our best to assist you with the registration / modification process by 1) submitting the appropriate paperwork; 2) providing the required information to you and/or to the appropriate domain name registrar; and/or 3) guiding you through the process.

We do not monitor the status of registrations, renewals, or registration modification requests. It is your responsibility to ensure that your domain name registration is completed as you desire. We'll be pleased to help you in any way we can, but you have to let us know if you need help.

Domain Name Registrars

During the first years of the internet's existence, U.S. domain name registration was handled by a single agency, InterNIC, which was a joint venture between the U.S. government and a private company, Network Solutions. Beginning in early 1999, the InterNIC monopoly was dissolved and the registration process was opened up to a number of different registrars. This change has resulted in improved service and lower cost to domain name registrants.

For more information on the global domain name registration process and approved domain name registrars, please visit the web site of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

If You're Registering a New Domain Name

New domain registrations are easy. At the time that you submit your hosting application to us, we also immediately forward the domain name registration application to our NICForce.net domain registration subsidiary. As long as you have accurately completed the information requested on our application, your domain name registration will usually be completed within 24 hours. Your Domain Host will pay the domain name registration and renewal fees for qualifying accounts for as long as your domain is hosted on our servers. CLICK HERE for more details.

If You're Moving an Existing Domain Name to Our Servers

If you've already registered your domain name and now wish to move it to our servers, the process may be easy or it may not be, depending upon a number of factors:

Domain Name Registrar:

If you registered your domain with a registration agency other than Network Solutions/InterNIC, you will have to effect the transfer yourself, using the procedures mandated by the registration agency. We will provide you with the necessary technical contact and nameserver information.

The following information applies to domain names registered with Network Solutions only.

Authorization Scheme:

For registrations prior to 1999, Network Solutions offered the choice of three methods for determining the authority of modifications to your domain name registration record: E-mail (MAIL-FROM), encrypted password, and PGP signed key. Since the majority of registrants choose the MAIL-FROM authorization method, we will discuss only that method here.

NOTE: Beginning around 1999, Network Solutions began offering registrations through WorldNIC. WorldNIC registrants were given a username and password along with web-based access to their domain records. In 2000 or 2001, Network Solutions began assigning the username/password authentication scheme to all registrations. We are not able to assist with the modfication process for domains that require username/password authentication.

All domain name records include the following information:
 Registration Details: 

 Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC. 

 Registrant:
 Tintagel Consulting, LLC (HOSTINGMANUAL2-DOM)
   3903 Yorkshire Drive
   Stillwater, OK 74074
   US

   Domain Name: HOSTINGMANUAL.COM

   Administrative Contact, Billing Contact, Technical Contact:
      Domains, Tintagel  (JO1399)  domains@TINTAGEL.NET
      Tintagel Net Solutions Group, Inc.
      1366 North Boxley Avenue
      Fayetteville, AR 72704
      (501) 251-7450 (FAX) (405) 707-8074


   Record last updated on 28-Dec-1998.
   Record expires on 28-Dec-2000.
   Record created on 28-Dec-1998.
   Database last updated on 10-Oct-2000 15:42:54 EDT.

   Domain servers in listed order:

   NS.TINTAGEL.NET		216.71.6.103
   NS2.TINTAGEL.NET		209.204.250.170
The Registrant is the registered owner of the domain name and has final authority for all changes made to the domain name record. The administrative contact is usually an individual associated with the registrant who has the responsibility of maintaining the domain name registration. The technical contact is usually an individual associated with the domain's web hosting provider. The billing contact is the individual who receives invoices associated with domain name registration from Network Solutions. These three contacts can be the same, as in the example above, or they could be three different individuals or organizations.

Under the e-mail authorization scheme, modifications to a domain name record must be authorized by either the administrative contact or technical contact associated with the domain name. In almost all cases, the technical contact won't respond to modification requests. By policy, for example, Your Domain Host will neither approve nor deny any requests for domain name record modifications. In most cases, the responsibility lies with the administrative contact to make changes to the domain record.

Upon your request, we will submit a domain name record modification request to Network Solutions. This modification involves changing the technical contact and domain server information. You should not attempt to modify any other component of your domain name record at this time, as it will inevitably result in significant processing delays at Network Solutions.

Upon receipt of this modification request, Network Solutions will e-mail a request for confirmation to the e-mail addresses associated with the administrative and technical contacts. Again, assume that the technical contact is not going to respond. In order to effect the modification, the administrative contact must reply to that confirmation request, following the instructions contained in the request exactly. The slightest error will result in the confirmation being rejected. You will not likely receive any notification that it's been rejected - it just won't happen. (See the Troubleshooting section below for some common errors.) From the time that Network Solutions receives the correct confirmation, your domain name registration modification will be complete within 24 - 72 hours.

If you no longer have access to the e-mail address associated with the administrative contact, the process becomes slightly more complicated. Now we have to resort to the registrant as final authority component of the registration. We will submit the modification request as usual. However, if the administrative contact's e-mail address is no longer active, you won't be able to receive the confirmation request. You will need to fax an authorization letter directly to Network Solutions. This letter must include your domain name and certain other information, including a NIC Tracking Number. We will provide this tracking number to you at your request, as well as providing you with a URL which will produce the appropriate letter to be faxed. If you do not have access to the administrative contact e-mail, you need to let us know at the time that you submit your application.

Troubleshooting Domain Modifications:

Following are some common problems that result in delays to the modification process:

AOL Customers: The America Online e-mail client apparently does not copy the original message when replying. In order for your modification confirmation to be processed by Network Solutions, the entire text of their original message must be included in your reply. Solution: Simply copy and paste the text of the original message into your reply, and reply as instructed.

Conflicting Information: If you attempt to modify components of your domain name record other than technical contact and nameserver information, the modification request will be rejected. All other components of the record must appear exactly as they appear in Network Solutions' database.

Confirmation Sent in HTML Format: The administrative contact should respond to the request for confirmation in plain text format. Sending the confirmation in HTML format is likely to result in the confirmation being ignored.

Failure to Confirm: In order to affirm the move, you must type the letter "Y" or the word "Yes" in the appropriate space of your reply. Your response must look like this:

0a. (Y)ES (N)O......: Y

If you forget to enter the "Y" or if you enter the "Y" in the wrong place, your confirmation will be ignored.

Sending Multiple Confirmations: If you become impatient and decide to submit multiple confirmations you will probably only delay the process. Allow at least 24 hours for your confirmation to be accepted before re-submitting. If you have questions as to whether you've done it correctly, simply forward a copy of your reply to support@yourdomainhost.com and ask us to take a look at it.

Inadvertent or Intentional Rejection: If the administrative or technical contact types an "N" or "NO" in the confirmation line, obviously your modification request is going to be rejected. We've seen a few web hosts reject these requests automatically and we've seen a few cases where someone associated with the registrant rejects it because they didn't realize the registrant wanted to move the domain.

Modification Request is Lost: In very rare cases, our automatic application may fail to submit the modification request. In other cases, the modification request may be "lost in cyberspace." Obviously, Network Solutions has to receive the request in order to process the modification. If you do not receive an acknowledgement and/or request for confirmation from Network Solutions/InterNIC within 24 hours of submitting your application to us, please let us know. We'll make sure that it was sent properly.

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