I was having a simple Christmas in Park City, Utah, visiting my sister and brother-in-law and their three sons. Quiet, lots of snow, kids to keep Christmas interesting, and best of all, no work.

Until my storefront was closed. The day after Christmas. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure when it was closed down. And this isn't some long-winded whine about Internic, as much as a warning to be alert of a very simple mistake which could cost you thousands of dollars.

That is, of course, if you are planning to make money with your Web site. If it's for personal use, a few weeks off-line won't matter. But when my store shut down, in the middle of a focused test, I was stuck in Utah with none of the benefits of the Internet.

People would try to visit writething.com, and get those dreaded messages that it didn't exist. I started getting phone calls on my answering machine, wondering where I was? Meanwhile, I was frantically faxing and calling Internic trying to get the problem cleared up. And worst of all, my Internet provider takes the week between Christmas and New Year's off, with limited staff.

All my problems occurred because my email address wasn't current. That's the secret of Internic; if it's never happened to you, you think it's my fault. If you have dealt with them, you know it's Kafka, strictly Kafka.

What happened was simple:

1. I got my domain name, writething.com, in 1995 when it was still free. All you did was send in your request and contact info, and boom, there you were!

2. I wanted to move my domain in November 1996. But on checking at Internic, the email address on my administrator's account (administrator is the CEO of any domain name in Internic terms) was outdated. I sent them an email and tried several downloaded templates to move my domain.

3. I found out I couldn't move my domain without a confirmation sent from my old email address. This old email address wasn't existent. I used Claris Emailer to use the return email address as the old one, hoping to fool it.

4. I spent three weeks trying to figure out something; I got no response. I was told by Internic that I had to send an email from my old email account, that was all. My provider said the same thing (you have to understand, providers and Internic talk down to you, thinking you made the same mistakes. They have good reason to) But I've moved many domains, know what I'm doing, and all anyone kept telling me is, send it from your old email address. I had done this, I had tried so many different emails and templates trying just to get that email changed.

5. This is where the Kafka Schtick hit. They kept giving me that same answer, new emails, new templates I sent in, new faxes and phone calls only to get a busy signal like any good business; weeks were starting to pass. One person kept asking me for a code to a submission I made in November; I talked to two operators and knew it was irrelevant, but he wouldn't budge and actually hung up on me. I can't totally blame him; I was fried and looking for blood. I'd been nice for two weeks, but still my business wasn't open.

6. In January I kept chasing my provider, who told me to guess what? Email from my old address.

7. Finally, my fax and pleading got through. I didn't scream at the operator (gee, what a novel idea), and calmed down to ask for her help. And she did help, getting the email address changed. I resubmitted to Internic and it went through quickly.

The morale of this story is, be sure that your email contact is correct before moving a domain. It may sound so easy to cure, but Internic is busy and has a system that works if you do exactly as they say. Only it isn't always easy for a human being to figure out their system.

Instead of complaining, I created this four step system that should help you out. And if you do follow it, you'll only have one problem; finding a domain name that isn't taken. Another challenge to be creative. And don't blame Internic for your troubles; would you want to handle a bunch of confusing questions from the anarchy called the Internet?

Until later,

MDD