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Q: What is a domain name?
A: A domain name is essentially a signpost on the Internet.
Every Website you've ever been to, and every email you've
ever composed, has used a domain name in its address. People
register domain names in order to "stake a claim"
to a particular name -- whether for business or personal reasons.
Once a domain name is registered to a person or company, it
is that person's to use exclusively as long as they continue
to pay the yearly renewal fee. Our domain name is hostedincanada.com,
and we also own hostedincanada.net and hostedincanada.ca.
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Q: Why do I need to register a domain
name?
A: Most Internet providers offer you a directory on their
own domain. Most of the time, they look like this: http://www.yourisp.com/~yourname/.
In addition to having to explain the little squiggle mark
(~ which is called a tilde) to your less net-savvy customers,
this can prove cumbersome on business cards and letterhead,
and it does not reflect the unique nature of your business
or homepage. Registering a domain name for your business or
organization is essential to your marketing efforts. An independent
domain name gives your business a unique identity on the World-Wide
Web.
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Q: Can anyone register a domain name?
A: Yes. There are no restrictions on who can register
a domain name, you don't even need a website.
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Q: How long does it take to register a
domain name?
A: Registration normally occurs on the same day the
order is submitted when paying by credit card. If you are
paying by check, the domain will be registered once payment
is received.
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Q: Can I register a domain name if I am
not ready to sign up for hosting yet?
A: Yes, you can register your domain name now and set
up a hosting account later.
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Q: How will I be able to tell if my desired
domain name is already taken?
A: When you contact us to register a domain name, we
will search the domain name database (which is known as "WhoIs")
to see if your requested domain name is available. If the
domain request comes up with "no match" you will
be able to register that domain name.
If you would prefer to check available domain names for yourself,
click here.
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Q: Why
would I register my domain name through HIC/HIA instead of someone
else?
A: Simple really, service and then price. Call us during
our regular office hours and you may be surprised. Why? You
can actually talk to someone on the phone. Contact
Numbers and Hours of operation.
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Q: Is registering my new domain name through
this site any different than registering it through Network
Solutions?
A: Yes and No! The service and product is the same, but
the price is different. You will still maintain all rights
to your domain name providing that you maintain the registration
fees.
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Q: How Much Does HIC/HIA (HostedinCanada
and HostedinAmerica) charge to register a domain name?
A: HIC will register your .COM, .NET, .ORG or .INFO
domain name for $14.95 per year, or $19.95 per year for .CA.
This is a big savings over the rates that most hosting companies
charge!
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Q: Are there any charges other than the
$14.95 registration fee?
A: No. You only pay $14.95/Year for your domain ownership
and nothing else.
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Q: What forms of payment do you accept?
A: We accept Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, check or money
order.
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Q: How do I choose a good domain name?
A: Choose a name that reflects the intent and purpose of your
Website or business. Try to keep it short and snappy, and say it
out loud, as if you were telling someone at a party to visit your
web page. Some domain names look good on paper but are confusing
when you try to send someone to them over the phone. Keep in mind
the image that it conjures...your domain name will be one of the
ways people recognize or evaluate your site for their interests
when they are searching via Yahoo! or other search engines. When
facing a large number of choices, the snappiest domain will sometimes
grasp the most attention.
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Q: What are the valid characters for
a domain name and how long can it be?
A:The only valid characters for a domain name are letters,
numbers and a hyphen "-". Other special characters
like the underscore "_" or the exclamation mark
"!" are not permitted. A domain name can be up to
63 characters long, plus the characters used to identify the
Top Level Domain (.com, .ca, .biz, .info, .net, .org). Do
not include the www. before your domain name when counting
characters.
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Q: Do I need to register .com, .net,
and .org?
A:The expense of registering and supporting a domain name
is minor compared to the expense of marketing your domain
name and your business. The last thing you want is for someone
else (usually your competitors) to benefit from your efforts
to establish your identity. You will see competitors registering
names close to yours, trying to benefit from typos your visitors
may make.
For example, someone registered internik.net to try and benefit
from typos by visitors to internic.net. HostedinCanada.com is
a good example, too. In order to protect Hostedincanada.com,
we have also registered:
Hostitincanada.com
Hostitincanada.net
Hostitincanada.ca
and several others.
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Q: What if my desired domain name is
the same as a trademarked name?
A: Generally, if you've registered the name in good faith,
it's not a name belonging to an internationally known company,
and you can show that you have a legitimate reason to use
that name then you are likely to be able to keep that name.
That may not be the case if it can be shown that you purchased
the name for the express purpose of re-selling it to a company
with a legitimate claim to the name. Please see the Uniform
Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy for details.
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Q: What are the chances of your staff
misspelling my domain name or personal information during
the registration process?
A: Absolutely none. Our domain registration process is completely
automated. Your domain name and personal information are recorded
exactly the way you enter it.
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Q: What if my contact information changes?
A: You should always keep your domain contact information
current. There are three contacts listed on every domain:
Administrative, Billing, and Technical contact. If any of
these contacts change, just use our domain
modification form.
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Q: Once I have a domain name, how long
may I use it?
A: If there are no trademark disputes, your secured domain
name will be yours for as long as you maintain the yearly
registration fees.
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Q: What happens when it comes time to
renew?
A: You will be invoiced on the anniversary date of your
domain registration, and charged our standard registration
fee of $14.95/year to renew. There are no other service charges
or InterNIC fees to pay.
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Q: I just registered my domain name,
and you sent me an email which says that you have registered
it, but when I type it into my Web browser, it says the domain
can't be found. Why?
A: When you receive the email confirming the registration
of your new domain, there are many more steps still to be
done behind the scenes. Your domain will be entered into the
global WhoIs database, and your registration must travel to
all the ISPs in the world. It will be 24-48 hours after you
receive the confirmation email before you will be able to
go to your domain with your Web browser.
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Q: Why
would I want to transfer my domain to a new registrar like HIC/HIA?
A: When you registered your domain you probably paid anywhere
from $40 to $70, just to reserve it for just one year. Now that
it is coming due, you can save yourself some money by taking advantage
of HIC/HIA's extremely low transfer and registration pricing. In
addition, once the transfer is complete, you will be able to easily
manage your domain by using our secure online control panel.
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Q: How
much does it cost to transfer my domain to HIC/HIA?
A: You can transfer your domain from your current domain
registrar to HIC/HIA for just $14.95. This will add one year to
the original registration term. For example, if your domain is due
to expire in 2 months, you can transfer it to HIC today for only
$14.95, and it will then expire in 1 year and 2 months.
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Q: My domain name is registered through
a different registrar and it is almost time for me to renew
my registration. Is there any way that I can transfer it to
you to pay the lower fees?
A: Yes! We can put through a transfer for you. The
transfer costs of $14.95 will EXTEND the length of your registration
by one year. Click here for
domain transfers. Transfers can take some time, so be sure
to transfer at least a month before the expiration date, just
to be safe.
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Q: What is the difference between yourname.com
and www.yourname.com?
A: yourdomain.com is the name of the domain itself. www.yourname.com
is the actual address of your domain on the Web. When your domain
is hosted by HIC/HIA, visitors can reach your Website by typing
either yourdomain.com or www.yourdomain.com. Both
will direct visitors to the same Website.
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Q: I don't understand the difference
between a domain name, a website and web hosting.
A: A domain name is like a personal cell phone number
where people can dial you up. A website is the information
people get when they find you and a web host is the company
you contract with to provide the connection for you and your
friends or clients.
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Q: Do I automatically get a website with
my domain name?
A: No. This is often an area of confusion. Your domain name
and your website hosting are distinct and separate products, both
available through HIC/HIA. Click
here for more information about our hosting packages.
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Q: TUCOWS has stolen my domain name!
A: If you do a WhoIs search at Network Solutions or another
registrar, you may get a result that looks like this:
Domain Name: YOURDOMAIN.COM
Registrar: TUCOWS, INC.
Whois Server: whois.opensrs.net
Referral URL: http://www.opensrs.org
Name Server: NS1.HOSTEDINCANADA.COM
Name Server: NS2.HOSTEDINCANADA.COM
Updated Date: 24-jan-2002
This does not mean that TUCOWS, INC. is the owner
of your domain. Tucows OpenSRS is the registrar for HostedinCanada/HostedinAmerica,
which means that OpenSRS provides the service of registering our
customers' domains. You are still the registrant, who is the owner
of the domain.
Go to http://whois.opensrs.net/
to look up your domain on the Tucows OpenSRS system to see
your registration info.
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Q: What is name service (DNS)?
A: DNS (Domain Name Service) is a directory service.
Name servers hold records that point internet users to websites,
email mapping, or any specific servers people may have. Every
domain needs a DNS server answering for it. They are basically
the machines that hold vital information for that domain.
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Q: Will HIA/HIA be providing
Primary and Secondary DNS?
A: Yes, we will. For each registration you need two different
domain name system (DNS) servers. In order to receive any of our
services your domain must utilize our DNS. Your registered domain
name will automatically default to our DNS.
NOTE: If you move your domain to another DNS, you will no
longer be able to use our services.
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Q: Can
I register a domain with HIC/HIA, but have the domain point to alternate
name servers?
A: Yes. Just register your domain name here and fill
in different name servers on the order form.
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Q: What if I move to another hosting
provider?
A: All that's required to switch hosting providers is
a change of name server information. You can easily modify
your domain record by using our online modification
form.
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Q: Registry? Registrar? Registrant? What
do these words mean?
A: There is one Registry for every Top-Level Domain.
The Registry for .com and .net domains is maintained by VeriSign,
Inc. The Registry for .org domains is maintained by Public
Interest Registry (PIR). The Registry for .biz domains is
maintained by NeuLevel, Inc. The Registry for .info domains
is maintained by Afilias Limited. The Registry for .ca domains
is maintained by Canadian Internet Registration Authority
(CIRA). The Registry for .us domains is maintained by NeuStar,
Inc.
A Registrar is a company that can enter new domains into the Registry.
The Registrar for domains registered through HostedinCanada/HostedinCanada
is OpenSRS.
The Registrant is the individual or organization that registered
a particular domain name.
For example, Anita Jacobson (registrant) registers
the name anitajacobson.com through OpenSRS (HostedinCanada/HostedinAmerica's
registrar) who in turn writes the name to the central database (VeriSign,
Inc., the registry).
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Q: Who is ICANN?
A: ICANN is the organization responsible for maintaining
domain name registration records and dispute policies and
laws governing domain name registrations.
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Q: What
is HostedinCanada/HostedinAmerica's Canadian GST number?
A: GST#878852813 RT0001
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