[Finance] Fwd: [alafoi1 84945434] Domain "bikemanitoba.ca"'s Registration expires on 2014-02-14!

[Bill]

This is part of the larger question of how many domains we have and why.  It's also not really urgent.  Even if we let it lapse there is a grace period of several months when we can get it back.

There are several reasons for us to lease and control a domain.

 1. As a primary access point that we advertise as our web presence.
      * biketothefuture.org
      * bikewinnipeg.ca
      * bicyclevaletwinnipeg.ca
      * biketoworkdaywinnipeg.org
      * winnipegbikeweek.com
 2. Access points that we may want to use in the future
      * bikemanitoba.ca
      * ibikeivote.ca
 3. Domains we want to protect from use by other people.  This is based on the idea that someone would want to set up a website that looks like it might be us but which attacks or interferes with our purposes.
      * bikewinnipeg.org
      * bikewpg.ca
      * bikewpg.com
      * bikewpg.org

We have two primary domains under our control: biketothefuture which needs a retirement plan and bikewinnipeg, the real us.  The BVW domain is under Dave Weiser's control, or actually his wife who works for the web service.  We don't know how it gets paid for.  The two bike-to-work domains are not directly used by us but they are controlled under our account.  Nevertheless I don't actually know who pays for them.

bikemanitoba might at one time have been our name and may yet be the name of another, or an umbrella, group in the future.  I think it would be prudent to hang onto it.

The defensive domains are another story.  This is only a short list of all the potential look-alike domains that hostile people might use against us.  I question the existence of the threat and the expense of maintaining this defense.

There is also the idea that some of the defensive names might be used as "alternate access" to our website.  I don't see this as very useful.  It's basically unergonomic in that it leads people to believe that these other names are our real name.  If we let that happen we are stuck with those names forever.

This whole area needs further documentation (which I'm working on) to establish exactly what we own and how we control it. Domain names are only part of it.  There is: Domain registration; Web Service contracts; Website admin access.  These three levels of control need to be documented for all our sites.

In the mean time let's renew bikemanitoba.ca.  As far as I know most registrars charge $10 or less for .com and .org domains but everybody seems to want $13 or more for .ca domains.

     --Bill

On 14-01-28 14:43, Bike Winnipeg wrote:
> Hi,
>
> We will need to make a decision on whether or not to renew the bikemanitoba.ca <http://bikemanitoba.ca> domain name. The cost to renew would be $14 USD via Dreamhost. While there are cheaper options for renwing, they would also require a transfer fee that would end up costing more.
>
> Mark
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: *DreamHost Registration Service* <support at dreamhost.com <mailto:support at dreamhost.com>>
> Date: Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 2:12 AM
> Subject: [alafoi1 84945434] Domain "bikemanitoba.ca <http://bikemanitoba.ca>"'s Registration expires on 2014-02-14!
> To: biketothefuture at gmail.com <mailto:biketothefuture at gmail.com>
>
>
>
> "bikemanitoba.ca <http://bikemanitoba.ca>"'s Registration expires on 2014-02-14!
>
> (Note: if you look at the whois data for this domain, you MAY
> see an expiration date of one year later. This DOES NOT mean
> the domain has been renewed! The registry "auto-renews" all
> domains, but they are then deleted if not EXPLICITLY renewed.)
>
> This domain will expire unless you explicitly renew it at the
>
>  Domain > Registration section of our web panel at
>
> https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=domain.registration
>
> ** Even *if* your renewal is free, your hosting is not!
>
> ** If you renew a domain for free and then cancel your hosting,
> you will then have to pay for the domain registration.
>
> ** Even if you let your registration expire, your *hosting* will
> renew and you WILL BE CHARGED unless you close your account at:
>
> https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=billing.accounts
>
> Also, you might want to change your renewal settings using the
> Domain > Registration area...
>
>        "Yes" : We will always make sure your domain gets renewed.
>        "Ask" : Your current setting, we just send you these emails.
> "Let Expire" : We will not bug you, nor will we renew your domain.
>
>
> Remember, if your domain registration expires:
>
> 1.  Your web site at that domain will stop working.
> 2.  Your email at that domain will stop working.
> 3.  After about 30 days the domain will be available for anyone
>     in the world to register again!
>
> Thanks for choosing DreamHost!
> The Happy DreamHost Domain Registration Team
>
>
> ----------------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe from all automatic notifications, please visit this link in your web browser: https://panel.dreamhost.com/unsubscribe.cgi?email=biketothefuture%40gmail%2Ecom&token=hZei8AGL6njVayDn/IVu
>
>
>
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