petitioning for release of a domain name

• 

  jessithomsen · Member · Feb 5, 2015 at 9:20 pm

  • Copy link
  • Add topic to favorites

  Can I petition to have a domain name that has not been updated in 8 years to be released so I can use it?

• 

  jessithomsen · Member · Feb 5, 2015 at 9:25 pm

  • Copy link

  I finally found an answer to my question…I think. I have tried to contact the original owner of the domain name and will wait to hear back. Unless there is anything else I can do?

• 

  timethief · Member · Feb 5, 2015 at 9:26 pm

  • Copy link

  There is no expiration date on blogs unused, reserved or otherwise. If you can make contact on your own with the owner of an unused blog via a contact form or commenting, then providing the are agreeable there is a means of a consenting blog owner to transfer the blog to another username account. http://en.support.wordpress.com/moving-a-blog/#transferring-your-blog-to-another-user-or-account

  In the case that there is no contact information Staff will not breach the privacy policy and provide you with an email address.

  If you are not successful, you can register another blog with a similar name. http://en.support.wordpress.com/register-a-blog/

  Or you can register a domain via a domain mapping upgrade and it will not matter what the underlying .wordpress.com address is.
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/register-domain/

• 

  jessithomsen · Member · Feb 5, 2015 at 9:33 pm

  • Copy link

  Thanks for the options. Like I said, I put a comment on the blog. I’ll see if anything comes of that first.

• 

  timethief · Member · Feb 5, 2015 at 9:35 pm

  • Copy link

  Based on over 8 years of answering questions here I say: Don’t hold your breath. Serious advice: If branding and blogging longevity are at the top of your priority list then purchase a custom domain name via a domain mapping upgrade.