October 13, 2007

Netwizards

 

Frequently Asked Questions


  1. Domain Names
    1. How do I find information about my domain name?
    2. How long can domain names be?
    3. What characters are allowed in domain names?
    4. Do I need to register for two years?
    5. What are second-level and top-level domains?
    6. How do I register a domain name with a different suffix?
    7. What are the new top-level domains (TLDs) and when can I get one?
    8. How can I get a list of all domain names I own?
    9. Why does my new domain name show as being available?
    10. Do you allow dirty words in domain names?
    11. Why does my domain show "status: production"?
  2. Billing
    1. What if I do not have a credit card?
    2. Do I have to pay both NetWizards and NSI/InterNIC?
    3. How will I know when it is time to renew my registration?
    4. Will you automatically charge my credit card for renewals?
  3. Contacts
    1. What is a COCO handle?
    2. What is the Registrant/Holder/Owner Contact?
    3. What is the Billing Contact?
    4. What is the Administrative Contact?
    5. What is the Technical Contact?
    6. What is the Zone Contact?
    7. What is the "individual" field for?
    8. Why does a non-individual require a first and last name?
    9. Why do I have multiple handles?
    10. Does my name and address have to be posted publicly online?
    11. What characters are allowed in contacts?
    12. How do I change contacts on my domain name?
    13. How do I change my contact information?
  4. Name servers
    1. What is a COHO handle?
    2. Why can't you register my name server?
    3. Do I need name servers or do I have to "park" my domain name?
    4. How can I change the name or IP of my name server?
    5. How can I correct the IP address of my name server?
    6. I changed my name servers, why isn't my domain working?
    7. How can I remove all name servers from my domain name?
    8. How do I add or change name servers on my domain name?
  5. Making Changes
    1. Can I change or cancel my domain name?
    2. How do I change the ownership of my domain name?
    3. How long does it take to transfer ownership?
    4. How do I change the owner's name, as shown in Whois?
    5. How do I change the owner's address, as shown in Whois?
    6. How can I update many domain names at once?
    7. How do I make changes if my e-mail address has changed?
    8. How do I transfer my domain name from another registrar?
    9. Do I lose the time I already paid for if I transfer my domain name?
    10. What is my password?
    11. How do I transfer my domain name to an ISP or hosting provider?
  6. Other Questions
    1. What is CORE?
    2. Can NetWizards host my domain name and web site?
    3. Will my information be used to send me junk mail?
    4. Is NetWizards an accredited registrar?
    5. What about bulk registration or resellers?
    6. Do you allow cyber-squatting?
    7. Do you purchase domain names?
    8. How can I purchase a domain name after it expires?
    9. Is pre-registration of new TLDs legal?
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  1. Domain Names

     

    1. How do I find information about my domain name?
      Use Whois, or with a Whois client.

       

    2. How long can domain names be?
      Second-level domains registered through NetWizards may be up to 63 characters long. Combined with the top-level domain suffix, such as .COM, this makes the total possible length for a domain name of 67 characters. Before you rush to register such long domains, however, please keep in mind that some browsers cannot handle hostnames longer than 64 characters, including WWW. and .COM.

       

    3. What characters are allowed in domain names?
      Only letters (A-Z), numbers (0-9) and hyphens (-) are allowed and a domain name may not begin or end in a hyphen. Letters are not case-sensitive, so netwiz.net is the same as NETWIZ.NET or NetWiz.Net.

       

    4. Do I need to register for two years?
      You may register COM/NET/ORG domains for one year, but BIZ and INFO domains must be registered for a minimum of two yaers. Domain names may also be registered for more years, up to ten. You can also renew your registration for multiple years at any time, up to a total of ten years.

       

    5. What are second-level and top-level domains?
      A top-level domain (TLD) is the domain suffix to the right of the dot (.), such as COM, ORG, NET, etc. In addition to the generic TLDs, there are over 200 two-letter country-code TLDs, such as .US and .CA, and some special TLDs, such as .EDU, .GOV and .MIL. The second-level domain (SLD) is the part of the domain to the left of this dot. For instance, the domain netwiz.net has the TLD net and the SLD netwiz.

       

    6. How do I register a domain name with a different suffix?
      Different suffixes or Top-Level Domains (TLDs), such as .EDU, .CC, etc., may be registered through different registrars. See the Internet Assigned Number Authority to find registrars for all possible TLDs. Most TLDs are restricted by nationality or other criteria. See also new TLDs.

       

    7. What are the new top-level domains (TLDs) and when can I get one?
      See our new domains page.

       

    8. How can I get a list of all domain names I own?
      You can look up your contact (COCO) handle(s) with Whois by searching for your name or e-mail address. Then enter –where=domain:admin-c COCO-nnnn, where nnnn is your COCO number. You may also log in and click on "List all domains for this handle."

       

    9. Why does my new domain name show as being available?
      It takes about a day for new domain names to appear in InterNIC and at other registrars. You can find your domain name at NetWizards' Whois within minutes of registration.

       

    10. Do you allow

       

    11. Why does my domain show "status: production"?
      This is the normal status for functioning domain names. Other statuses are: "reserved", "expired" and "hold".

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  2. Billing

       

    1. What if I do not have a credit card?
      You can pay in advance by check, wire transfer or other means. Please contact NetWizards at 1-888-346-3894 (+1-650-737-5470 outside the US) or billing to arrange pre-payment. Since NetWizards must pay non-refundable fees to ICANN, InterNIC and CORE at the time of registration, post-registration billing is not available.

       

    2. Do I have to pay both NetWizards and NSI/InterNIC?
      No. All fees are included in the fees paid to NetWizards.

       

    3. How will I know when it is time to renew my registration?
      You may look up the expiration date on our Whois page. Both e-mail and postal mail will also be sent to the address listed under billing contact before registration expires. There is a 45-day grace period after a domain name expires before it is deleted from the registry. Deleted domain names will not be immediately available for re-registration. Domain names may be renewed at any time after initial registration, up to ten years in advance, by going to our Renewal page. Renewal is currently $25 US per year. Billing contacts may be updated on the Billing Contact page.

       

    4. Will you automatically charge my credit card for renewals?
      No. You will need to re-enter your credit card information on our renewal page or provide another form of payment. You will be sent an invoice prior to your renewal date.

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  3. Contacts

       

    1. What is a COCO handle?
      The number used to reference CORE contacts. CORE maintains the registration and whois servers for COM/NET/ORG domains. Handles for other domains are maintained by their respective registries. CORE domains may have up to four types of contacts: owner (registrant/holder), admin, technical and zone. The same COCO handle may be used on many domain names, so that changing the contact information on one handle automatically updates the information for all associated domains. COCO handles all include first/last names, address, city, state, postal code, country, phone number and e-mail address, and may also include organization, title and fax number. You may create or modify COCO handles through our contact form.

       

    2. What is the Registrant/Holder/Owner Contact?
      The individual or organization who holds the domain name registration.

       

    3. What is the Billing Contact?
      The information associated with the credit card account, including cardholder name and billing address. Invoices for renewal will also be sent to the postal and e-mail addresses of this contact before the end of the current registration period.

       

    4. What is the Administrative Contact?
      The one authorized to make changes to the domain name, usually the owner or appointed agent.

       

    5. What is the Technical Contact?
      The one responsible for administering technical services for the domain name, such as networking, e-mail and web-hosting, usually provided by an ISP.

       

    6. What is the Zone Contact?
      The one responsible for administering domain name service (DNS), usually the same as the technical contact. A zone includes all the host, network and IP addresses associated with a domain. This contact is depricated in CON/NET/ORG domains and is usually the same as the technical contact. It is not used with BIZ or INFO domains.

       

    7. What is the "individual" field for?
      For COM/NET/ORG domains only, if a contact handle is marked "individual" and used as the owner contact, then the first and last names will be displayed as the registrant in whois. Otherwise, the organization, if there is one, will be displayed as the registrant.

       

    8. Why does a non-individual require a first and last name?
      This is an arbitrary rule imposed by the CORE Shared Registry System. Simply use whatever will make the most sense, such as fname="Acme,", lname="Inc.", or fname="Network Operations", lname="Center"

       

    9. Why do I have multiple handles?
      While NetWizards tries to use existing handles whenever possible, if the contact information is at all different or if Whois fails to reply, a new handle may be created.

       

    10. Does my name and address have to be posted publicly online?
      A name and address are required, but you may also provide a confidential billing contact, which will be known only to NetWizards.

       

    11. What characters are allowed in contacts?
      All printable US-ASCII characters are allowed in most fields, from ASCII-32 to ASCII-126. This includes all characters on the standard US keyboard. European and other characters are not supported at this time. Allowed characters in postal codes are " A-Za-z0-9._#/-". Allowed characters in phone and fax numbers are " .()[]A-Za-z0-9\,+#/&-".

       

    12. How do I change contacts on my domain name?
      You can enter name servers and contact (COCO) handles on the domain modification form. You may authenticate the changes with a password or by e-mail. To create contact handles or change the information associated with a contact handle, use the contact modification form. You can search for contact handles on whois.

       

    13. How do I change my contact information?
      To change the information associated with a contact handle, use the contact modification form. You can search for contact handles on whois. You may authenticate the changes with a password or by e-mail.

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  4. Name servers

       

    1. What is a COHO handle?
      The number used to reference CORE name server host records. Name servers are required to make a domain functional and are usually provided by an ISP. CORE domains may have from zero to twelve name servers. The same name server may be used on many domain names, so that changing the information on one handle automatically updates the information for all associated domains. COHO handles all include a hostname and IP address, and may also include a technical contact. Since only one COHO handle is allowed for each hostname and IP address, the name or IP may be used instead. You may modify COHO handles through our host form. It is not necessary to create a COHO handle before using a name server, as this will be done automatically if it is already known to InterNIC, or if you include both the hostname and IP address.

       

    2. Why can't you register my name server?
      According to InterNIC:
      In general, name servers must be registered through the current registrar of the name server's parent domain name, though an implementation MAY allow use of name servers registered in other TLDs without specifying IP addresses or requiring parent domain registration. Use of ccTLD name servers for a gTLD domain name is one such example.

      What this means is that if the hostname for your name server uses a domain name which is not registered by CORE, you must register it first through its domain's registrar before it can be used by other registrars. For example, if your name server is named ns1.mydomain.com and mydomain.com is registered through NSI, you must also register the name server through NSI before it may be used with CORE domains, or you must use a hostname with a CORE-registered domain or a two-letter country-code domain.

       

    3. Do I need name servers or do I have to "park" my domain name?
      No. CORE does not require name servers, so it is not necessary to "park" your domain name on somebody's name servers if you do not plan to use it right away. This requirement was introduced by InterNIC in a vain attempt to stop "cybersquatters" from registering domain names for the sole purpose of reselling them, but it was easy for them to "park" the domain names anyway. Some registrars use this artificial restriction to charge people more money without providing much service. NetWizards recognizes that many wish to obtain their domain name in advance of using it, especially since hosting a domain name costs money. Send e-mail to hostmaster if you would like NetWizards forward e-mail and IP addresses at no cost.

       

    4. How can I change the name or IP of my name server?
      Name servers can only be modified by the registrar which created them. If the name server was created by NetWizards, you can use the host change page. If not, you will need to contact the registrar, which you can find on in Whois.

       

    5. How can I correct the IP address of my name server?
      When a name server's IP address changes at InterNIC, the old IP address will continue to be displayed in CORE's Whois database. This does not affect the functioning of your domain name in any way, since it is only the IP at InterNIC that matters. To synchronize the displayed IP address with InterNIC, simply enter the correct hostnames and IP addresses on the domain modification page and the local IP will automatically be updated in a few minutes.

       

    6. I changed my name servers, why isn't my domain working?
      InterNIC updates the Internet root zone servers once a day, so it usually takes about a day before changes propagate across the Internet. Also, make sure that your ISP has properly configured your DNS by using NS Lookup.

       

    7. How can I remove all name servers from my domain name?
      Although domains may be registered without name servers, it is not possible to remove all name servers without replacing them with other name servers.

       

    8. How do I add or change name servers on my domain name?
      You can enter name servers on the domain modification form.

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  5. Making Changes

       

    1. Can I change or cancel my domain name?
      Changing the spelling of a domain name requires deletion of the original domain name and registration of a new domain name. Domain names can only be cancelled without charge if we receive your request within four (4) days of registration. Requests can only be received during business hours, so the sooner you send your request, the more likely we will receive it in time. After four days, a written signature is required and no refunds will be made. Send your request to hostmaster.

       

    2. How do I change the ownership of my domain name?
      Enter the new owner's information on the Owner Change page, which will create a written document which needs to be signed by the current registrant or designated agent and sent to NetWizards, with identifying documentation. NetWizards must send the document, along with the Declaration of Due Diligence signed by NetWizards, to the Secretariat of the Council of Internet Registrars (CORE) in Geneva, Switzerland. CORE usually processes holder changes within one week. There is currently no fee for domain holder changes. Notarization is not necessary if the document is accompanied by identification, unless instructed by NetWizards. The administrative contact is accepted as an agent for the current holder. The new registration holder must agree by e-mail or other method to the Registration Agreement and Dispute Policy.

       

    3. How long does it take to transfer ownership?
      After we receive signed documentation, changes are usually completed by CORE Secratariat within one week.

       

    4. How do I change the owner's name, as shown in Whois?
      See the instructions for changing ownership. The owner or designated agent must sign and send the same documentation.

       

    5. How do I change the owner's address, as shown in Whois?
      Because the COCO handle is only used as a template, changing the handle does not automatically change this information. You may change domain name information on the Domain Modification page. You may authenticate the request with a password or by e-mail. Changing the information there will automatically change the information on the COCO handle.

       

    6. How can I update many domain names at once?
      Send a list of all the domain names and changes to hostmaster. A transaction ID will be sent to the registered contacts for confirmation.

       

    7. How do I make changes if my e-mail address has changed?
      First, enter the changes for your domain name or contact. Then send a letter detailing the changes, or a fax to +1-650-737-5477, signed by the listed contact, with a copy of printed identification, such as drivers license or utility bill. You can also scan the documentation and e-mail it as an attachment to hostmaster@netwiz.net.

       

    8. How do I transfer my domain name from another registrar?
      If you currently have a hosting account with NetWizards, simply add it to your account. If wish to open a new hosting account with NetWizards, see below. Otherwise, simply fill out the registrar transfer form and send the letter of authorization that is created. Transferring from another registrar automatically renews your registration for one year, which costs $25.

       

    9. Do I lose the time I already paid for if I transfer my domain name?
      No. Transferring registrars now counts as a renewal, rather than a new registration. One or more years will be added to the time remaining on your current registration period, up to ten years. To transfer registrars, please follow the transfer instructions.

       

    10. What is my password?
      If have never received a password or have forgotten it, go to the log in page, enter your domain name or handle and click on "Get Password". A new password will be sent to you by e-mail. You may then change your password to whatever you like on the same page.

       

    11. How do I transfer my domain name to an ISP or hosting provider?
      Your provider should provide you with name servers. Enter these on the domain modification page. You may also be given information for the technical contact, which may be entered on the same page.

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  6. Other Questions

     

    1. What is CORE?
      CORE, or the Internet Council of Registrars, is a non-profit membership association of Internet domain name registrars. Its purpose is to maintain a shared registry system (SRS) for the management of Internet domain names. CORE is a Registrar accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and currently operates as one of the ICANN-accredited registrars participating in the SRS.

       

    2. Can NetWizards host my domain name and web site?
      Yes. NetWizards has been providing full hosting services for years. We will host up to six domain names for $24.95/month. This includes e-mail and 25 MB of web space for up to two separate sites. (Six domain names may point to the same site, or three may point to each site, etc.) Dial-up Internet access is currently included at no extra charge only in California. DSL is available starting at $30/month extra in the United States. See more information or fill out our sign-up form and select "transfer domain".

       

    3. Will my information be used to send me junk mail?
      NetWizards does not promote or condone the use of unsolicited commercial e-mail, or "spam," and will not use spam to promote its services to any current or potential domain name customers, nor will NetWizards provide customer information to any outside parties for marketing purposes, unlike other domain name registrants. Furthermore, the use of domain names registered by NetWizards for the purpose of sending spam is prohibited by our Registration Agreement. Please also view NetWizards' Privacy Policy. For more information about spam and how to fight it, see NetWizards' spam page.

       

    4. Is NetWizards an accredited registrar?
      NetWizards is a founding member of the Internet Council of Registrars (CORE), which is accredited by ICANN to register domain names.

       

    5. What about bulk registration or resellers?
      You may register multiple domain names on our bulk registration page. Write to billing@netwiz.net to inquire about bulk rates or reselling agreements.

       

    6. Do you allow cyber-squatting?
      NetWizards does not condone or encourage the registration of domain names for the sole purpose of reselling them at a profit. According to the conditions of ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, registration or use of a domain name in "bad faith" may result in the revocation of the registration. However, NetWizards does not practice prior restraint against the registration of any domain names and it is the responsibility of those who believe that they have legitimate claims to a name to follow established dispute resolution procedures or other legal action.

       

    7. Do you purchase domain names?
      No. We are a domain registrar, not a broker. We do not buy domain names nor resell domain names at any cost above the $25 registration fee.

       

    8. How can I purchase a domain name after it expires?
      You must wait for the domain name to be deleted from the Registry. It is up to the registrar when the domain is deleted. NetWizards will delete domain names 45 days after they expire, if they are not renewed.
    9. Is pre-registration of new TLDs legal?
      Pre-registration is legal so long as there are no up-front fees charged and no guarantees made. NetWizards offers free pre-registration, and does not guarantee what we cannot deliver. Charges will only be made upon successful registration. Anyone doing otherwise is perpetrating a scam. See the FTC Consumer Alert for more information.

 



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