[Hidden-tech] Information on Gaia Host - Has anyone taken them to court?

Fri Nov 15 23:11:05 UTC 2019

Hi Joanna,

For cloning your website, what platform is it? WordPress is easy to copy 
with a plugin, HTML is easy to copy with a program that downloads the 
website to your computer and then you can FTP it up to the new server. 
Other platforms would require more research or someone with expertise in 
that platform - if it's a PHP based site, that's pretty much impossible 
without access to the server so you can grab the content but then you 
need to rebuild the pages.

The one person I worked with didn't end up owning the domain themselves 
so they went the route of getting a new domain name. They had admin 
access to their WordPress site so we were able to grab the site using a 
plugin called Duplicator.

I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that it would help to get together 
with other victims as a class action suit, and also to demand help from 
ICANN which often doesn't get involved in these sort of issues, 
hopefully that's not true in this case. The benefits of a class action 
suit are that the costs are spread amongst a large group, and a large 
group has a lot more clout than an individual or small company.

Best of luck!
Sam
--
Sam McClellan
Itabix, Inc
/One place for all things Web/
sam at itabix.com
http://itabix.com
Main - 413.587.4600
Toll-free - 877-7ITABIX (877.748.2249)
On 11/15/2019 5:15 PM, joanna campe wrote:
> Hi Sam,
>
> Thank you for the suggestions! I am immediately passing this on to my 
> IT team to see what could be done.
>
> I have already registered a new domain name with Dreamhost this 
> afternoon. I had already set up an account with them thinking I 
> wouldn't have a problem migrating my website and then realizing what 
> had happened and that I was not able to get the authorization code at 
> that time. I am trying to move everything along because it seemed like 
> I am going to have to clone the website. So I'm waiting for 
> Dreamhost to get back to me and  then I will need to pursue getting my 
> domain back.
>
> I would be very happy to know about any other's experience with 
> legally trying to wrest domain ownership back. I was thinking of going 
> to Small Claims Court. Would I need to do a class action suit? We have 
> a very modest budget, and this sounds  expensive and time-consuming. 
> Nevertheless, I don't want to lose my domain.
>
> I registered my domain with them because I wanted to support a local 
> co-op in the community and that was decades ago. Because  they do not 
> host me, I did not realize what was going on until recently.
>
> My best,
>
> Joanna
>
>
> Joanna Campe
> Executive Director
> Remineralize the Earth
> 152 South Street
> Northampton, MA 01060 USA
>
> Tel: 413-563-9938
> Skype: reminearth
> Email: jcampe at remineralize.org <mailto:jcampe at remineralize.org>
> http://www.remineralize.org
>
> *Book*
> Geotherapy: Innovative Methods of Soil Fertility Restoration, Carbon 
> Sequestration, and Reversing CO2 Increase
> http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466595392
>
> Please support us on Patr <https://www.patreon.com/RTE>e 
> <https://www.patreon.com/RTE>on <https://www.patreon.com/RTE>.
>
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 15, 2019 at 4:20 PM Sam McClellan via Hidden-discuss 
> <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net 
> <mailto:hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>> wrote:
>
>     Hi Joanna!
>
>     We tried to help with retrieving another Gaia victim's domain but
>     theirs was not in their name so they had no recourse. As long as
>     your domain isn't private, you can see the owner and admin email
>     by entering the domain here:
>
>     https://www.internic.net/whois.html
>
>     If you are the domain owner, you should ultimately be able to get
>     the domain back but it may take some time. Gaia is a top level
>     registrar, right under ICANN, so you could try contacting them.
>
>     https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/customer-support-2015-06-22-en
>
>     It would probably be a good idea for someone to organize a class
>     action suit, then you'd have more leverage with ICANN.
>
>     This will probably take time so I do think you should register a
>     new domain. We offer domain names for $12.95/year.
>
>     As far as the website, if it's an HTML site or a WordPress site
>     with admin access, we should be able to retrieve it without having
>     access to the Gaia control panel, and we'd be happy to host you
>     for free for the first three months.
>
>     Best,
>     Sam
>     --
>     Sam McClellan
>     Itabix, Inc
>     /One place for all things Web/
>     sam at itabix.com <mailto:sam at itabix.com>
>     http://itabix.com
>     Main - 413.587.4600
>     Toll-free - 877-7ITABIX (877.748.2249)
>     On 11/15/2019 1:38 PM, joanna campe via Hidden-discuss wrote:
>>     Dear Community,
>>
>>     I have just joined this list serve to see if I can get more
>>     information on Gaia Host. We are not able to change the plan of
>>     our website or migrate it without an authorization code and we
>>     have not been able to get the domains transferred either.
>>
>>     I have been advised by my hosting service that in order to be
>>     able to transfer the domain successfully, I need to take them to
>>     court. Has anyone in the community done that so far and with what
>>     success?
>>
>>     I have been told that I have two choices: take Gaia Host to court
>>     (small claims court?) or to create a new domain and clone the
>>     website until the issue can be resolved. Both of these are time
>>     consuming and meanwhile I have put off my fundraising campaign
>>     until the performance of the website can be improved by migrating
>>     it to a new plan.
>>
>>     I appreciate advice on this.
>>
>>     My best,
>>     Joanna
>>
>>
>>     Joanna Campe
>>     Executive Director
>>     Remineralize the Earth
>>     152 South Street
>>     Northampton, MA 01060 USA
>>
>>     Tel: 413-563-9938
>>     Skype: reminearth
>>     Email: jcampe at remineralize.org <mailto:jcampe at remineralize.org>
>>     http://www.remineralize.org
>>
>>     *Book*
>>     Geotherapy: Innovative Methods of Soil Fertility Restoration,
>>     Carbon Sequestration, and Reversing CO2 Increase
>>     http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466595392
>>
>>     Please support us on Patr <https://www.patreon.com/RTE>e
>>     <https://www.patreon.com/RTE>on <https://www.patreon.com/RTE>.
>>
>>
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