Someone stole my website

DISCLAIMER: I accidentally posted this in the online sales forum, but now cannot find how to delete it. Could an administrator please delete the other post. Sorry for the duplication.

What is the name of your state? Oklahoma


I paid a guy to create and host my website in April of 2004. I prepaid 2 years of hosting. I never received an invoice for April 06-April 07, so I thought it was cool.

Now he's taken my site, which has about 2,000,000 page views a year, and is using it as his own. He's charging for advertising and has re-registered the domain name in his name. He was the one who registered it for me in the beginning? He claims it's a 'foreclosure' type situation and wants the site, or $10,000 to return it to me.

What the heck do I do, I can't lose that site. Can I sue? Is he obligated to invoice me? He answered tech support questions as recently as February 07 without asking for payment. Any ideas?

Unfortunately that's what can happen when you let others handle things for you without you
staying on top of it. Without knowing all and any available facts (e.g. what terms had been
agreed upon before), no one can say until you retain an attorney to assess your situation.

While I understand the thread title is a reflection of your sentiment, it isn't always accurate.
Given that you paid for the whole thing for 2 years, and I'll bet your "contract" with the one
in question has already expired since, the other party has no further obligations to you.

Suing is one thing. Winning the suit is another, which has no guarantees.

In April 2004 you paid for two years. This means you paid through April 2006. This is May 2007. Your contract expired over a year ago. You paid him to make and maintain the website. If you take this to court, the first question will be why the hell you didn't pay for the past year and are the one complaining about theft. Who paid the hosting for the last year? Not you. You're in this guy's debt if you hope to have a chance at getting ownership of the site.