[thelist] Taking over a Web site

[patrick]

Kevin Stevens wrote:
> Hi All
>         A friend has recently taken over a pub and, because he knows me,
> wants me to up-date the current Web site. I have never done this before and
> I want to know where I stand on a couple of issues...
> 
> 1. It appears that the domain name does not belong to the former pub owner
> but to the company who designed the site in the first place. My friend is
> very keen to own the domain himself and has asked me to find out where he
> stands legally on this point. The pub is in England and is a .com domain.
> 2. What is the etiquette involved in using someone else's work. Am I being
> naive in thinking that any money paid so far has been for the work done and
> it will just be a simple case of transferring the site, as is, onto my own
> server? Realistically, I think not.
> 
> That will do for now, I have a horrible feeling this might get messy so I
> would appreciate any input from anyone who has done this before.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Kevin Stevens
> kjs at ratking.co.uk
> 

As to #1, I would highly recommend that the site owner -- the pub -- be
the owner of their domain.

Regarding #2, don't move the site from it's current server unless there
is compelling reason to do so. It tends to be a good idea to have
hosting separate from the site builder/maintainer. That way you can look
at each as a commodity and evaluate them on their own merits.

patrick sanders
http://www.stoutstreet.com
web sites that fit