Registrar

[cass]

We're in two minds at the moment with regard to the latest domain seizures by the state of Kentucky. The reason for this is our website currently has a .com domain and registered with a US registrar. We're thinking of changing it to co.uk with a registrar based in Europe just to be on the safe side.

In light of the above those who have .com domains will you be changing it to .co.uk or to .eu, or will you take a chance and hope that the US won't seize your domain?

At this stage I think it's geared mainly towards sites with gambling related content registered with VeriSign, but you never know. Given the current climate in the US pertaining to online gambling I reckon anything is possible.

Thanks,

[baldidiot]

All of my new projects are on .uk domains anyway, but that's more to do with localisation rather than fear of .coms.

I also have no plans to change any of my current sites that are .com based...

[bonuscenter]

Excuse me all because my English is not good ...

I changed my hosting provider a year ago because I am sure that the regulations in the U.S. will be harder in the future. My new hosting provider has servers in the United Kingdom.

But I do not think we will have problems with the .com domains.

Regulatory actions are directed to websites that perform financial transactions with residents of the United States, and that's not the case of our affiliates websites.

My advice: Change your server to Europe (sorry for American suppliers) and buy domains .uk .eu or other alternative to keep as backup in case of emergency. But don't be on panic on this issue.

Why I consider necessary to change hosting provider?

Because hosting companies in the United States do receive money for the service they provide, and can avoid monetary penalties for host sites "that they considered of dubious legality" like "Gambling related websites"

You can read the Terms of Use of any hosting provider in the United States and see that it reserves the right to immediately suspend any site that can "be considered of dubious legality." And almost all of them mention the betting and gambling as illegal activities, although they are not.

Moreover, the domains can not be considered alone as "illegal" (unless it infringes any copyrights). What has been pursued by some authorities in the United States is not using the domain as such, but the websites that perform financial transactions deemed "suspicious" with residents in the United States, and they seized them web domains

[Renee]

The websites themselves are not conducting the financial transactions... The software that is being downloaded from the site is.. so by that logic, if you have a direct download link to a casino on your site, then it probably falls under the same category..

bonuscenter are you a lawyer?

[bonuscenter]

The websites themselves are not conducting the financial transactions... The software that is being downloaded from the site is.. so by that logic, if you have a direct download link to a casino on your site, then it probably falls under the same category..

bonuscenter are you a lawyer?

Hi Renee. It's a great pleasure to meet you.

No, I'm not a lawyer. This is my personal opinion. Maybe you're right, but there are thousands or millions of websites that have direct links to casinos with transactions deemed "suspicious" by some authorities of the United States ... starting with the search engines like Google or Yahoo or thousands more.

It is also true that those search engines do not accept paid advertising related to online casinos while affiliates can earn commissions. That would be a difference that can harm us.

This issue has many aspects that should be reviewed based on the laws and decisions taken by the authorities to seize some domains. In this it would help a lawyer, you're right ...

Many greetings to you and everyone in RewardsAffiliates

[mojo]

There is no point getting everone nervous bonuscenter. Every usa affiliate needs to do their best to follow the law. Unfortunatly the law is a little vague.

I am a USA affiliate. I pay taxes on every penny I earn. I do the right thing. I am not worried about my dot com. Nor will I change it.

I would worry more if you are not paying taxes hun. You did not mention if you are doing that. Are you?

[mojo]

I want to add that if they take my domains, I am ok with it. I would rather have them take them all instead of allowing the status quo. Some of our programs are disgraceful.

You guys need to understand that the USA breaks things down completely, then rebuilds from ground zero in their own way. That is acutally ok with me. I would rather have my government do it than some of these programs that are shameless.

It's not just programs mind you, it's affiliates too. They get on a power trip. They try to have a big piece of the pie

Thank you for listening.

[cass]

Welcome back Mojo!

Thanks for the input all of you. For now we're just going to leave our .com domain as it is and hope for the best, we're not based in the US so I guess it's not a major concern to us. I agree with you Mojo that the US has the propensity to "break things down completely" just to build it up again. I think the US is getting rid of all the foreign based gambling sites once and for all before it legalizes online gambling again.

[pokerente]

As far as I know when it comes to domain seizures at least in the EU first of all it matters which market your site targets, less the TLD or where it's hosted. But honestly, things are currently so ****** up you either don't care at all and carry on or simply leave the US market for the sharks...