I have suggested the site "Schematicsfrofree" many times for folks seeking a circuit.
SUDDENLY THE SITE IS NOT AVAILABLE!!! I see a post from some domain name hog (an evil troll!!) offering the domain name for sale.
That site was a valuable resource.
Is this an actual disaster, or has my computer been damaged by malware???
Are others able to access the site??
This may not be in line with what is normally posted in this forum, but this is a rather nasty situation, losing a valuable resource.

 

This is what I see which is just a bit different than you reported. Forgetting to renew your domain name is not an unheard-of situation.

The domain has expired. Is this your domain? Renew now
schematicsforfree.com

 

This is what I see which is just a bit different than you reported. Forgetting to renew your domain name is not an unheard-of situation.

The domain has expired. Is this your domain? Renew now
schematicsforfree.com

root@hpdesk:/public/wfi32# whois schematicsforfree.com |more
Domain Name: SCHEMATICSFORFREE.COM
Registry Domain ID: 92194145_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.namecheap.com
Registrar URL: http://www.namecheap.com
Updated Date: 2023-11-15T08:02:03Z
Creation Date: 2002-11-14T05:08:00Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2024-11-14T05:08:00Z
Registrar: NameCheap, Inc.
Registrar IANA ID: 1068
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@namecheap.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.6613102107
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Name Server: DNS101.REGISTRAR-SERVERS.COM
Name Server: DNS102.REGISTRAR-SERVERS.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN Whois Inaccuracy Complaint Form: https://www.icann.org/wicf/
>>> Last update of whois database: 2023-11-15T21:56:47Z <<<

Looks like the domain registrar just has a page holder up. There is a grace-period for the pervious holder to renew.

Here:
root@hpdesk:/public/wfi32# whois allaboutcircuits.com |more
Domain Name: ALLABOUTCIRCUITS.COM
Registry Domain ID: 97835043_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Updated Date: 2022-09-30T00:19:16Z
Creation Date: 2003-05-13T01:15:19Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2031-05-13T01:15:19Z
Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 146
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@godaddy.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: 480-624-2505
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
Domain Status: clientRenewProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientRenewProhibited
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited
Name Server: HANK.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
Name Server: MAY.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
DNSSEC: signedDelegation
DNSSEC DS Data: 2371 13 2 5532AFFC4CF97A387AFADC5F3B3C4CBC778A80508A71A7D258BF031FF5A05F5A
URL of the ICANN Whois Inaccuracy Complaint Form: https://www.icann.org/wicf/
>>> Last update of whois database: 2023-11-15T21:59:48Z <<<

 

I have suggested the site "Schematicsfrofree" many times for folks seeking a circuit.
SUDDENLY THE SITE IS NOT AVAILABLE!!! I see a post from some domain name hog (an evil troll!!) offering the domain name for sale.
That site was a valuable resource.
Is this an actual disaster, or has my computer been damaged by malware???
Are others able to access the site??
This may not be in line with what is normally posted in this forum, but this is a rather nasty situation, losing a valuable resource.

So... I'm not getting what's supposed to be done. If someone has a website that others feel is valuable, does that mean that that someone HAS to forever keep that website up and running?

 

Domains come and go all the time. Certainly, there is no expectation that any given registrant will maintain that registration in perpetuity. It is also true that there are some folks who scoop up expired registrations in the hope of extorting some form of ransom payment from the original registrant who wants to keep his site going. I'm not sure this is a viable economic proposition,

 

Nothing to do with domain names or IP's.
From what i can see, the hosting server no longer has a website named "schematicsforfree.com".
Why? who knows.

 

So... I'm not getting what's supposed to be done. If someone has a website that others feel is valuable, does that mean that that someone HAS to forever keep that website up and running?

Only if the "someone(s)" is paying for a service provided by the website. Otherwise...no.

 

Only if the "someone(s)" is paying for a service provided by the website. Otherwise...no.

Even then, it's a legal matter between the someone and the owner of the site, but they likely won't have a leg to stand on.

Businesses go out of business all the time, and customers with pre-paid subscriptions or orders are generally in the same position as anyone else that made an unsecured loan to the business.

 

Even then, it's a legal matter between the someone and the owner of the site, but they likely won't have a leg to stand on.

Businesses go out of business all the time, and customers with pre-paid subscriptions or orders are generally in the same position as anyone else that made an unsecured loan to the business.

good point.

but a paid service will usually warn you of a pending shutdown and give you time to transfer your “stuff” if any.

 

good point.

but a paid service will usually warn you of a pending shutdown and give you time to transfer your “stuff” if any.

There is some kind of operation that regularly preserves snapshots of websites for historical purposes. Not sure what it is called but you might be able to find something there.

ETA: Google "Wayback machine" which takes you to Wayback Machine (archive.org) Then enter the URL "schematicsforfree.com"
ETA2: Not all of the content has been preserved.

 

There is some kind of operation that regularly preserves snapshots of websites for historical purposes. Not sure what it is called but you might be able to find something there.

Another good point.
Archives.org

 

OK, and great thanks to those folks who know how to access all of that information that was displayed. Now it is a bit more clear.
Still, this is an era of bad actors doing destructive things just to get their jollies off.
It was an asset that was very useful for my purposes for many years.

It would have been too much to expect that any could change anything, that was not what I expected.
So thanks for at least providing a bit of closure. Indeed, it is like a friend passing away.

 

good point.

but a paid service will usually warn you of a pending shutdown and give you time to transfer your “stuff” if any.

Ideally -- and they may well have done so in this case (if there were any paid services associated with this site).

But I don't think there is any requirement for this. Businesses that are on shaky financial footing are still allowed to conduct business as usual, including taking (and making) orders, without any requirement to inform customers or vendors of their shaky condition. I'm sure exceptions exist, either in specific circumstances (probably under regulatory agency or court orders) or perhaps in particular industries, but the additional burden of telling customers and vendors that you are on the verge of bankruptcy would often seal the deal and make it impossible for the business to work through its struggles.

If the company takes money with the intent of going out of business without providing the service paid for, that's fraud and can be pursued through the courts. But if the company takes the money in good faith and simply ends up being unable to provide the service, that's a matter for a bankruptcy court to settle. The determination of which of those two situations applies is always, to the best of my knowledge, done after the fact.

 

Try Search circuit diagrams (circuit-finder.com)

 

Eventually, we all move on to another place.
When Tony van Room VA3AVR passed away in 2011, I met up with his son and we discussed making sure that his website lived on.
His entire website was archived.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160317015705/http://www.sentex.ca/~mec1995/

https://www.learningelectronics.net/VA3AVR/

To be honest, I do not know what is the relationship between AllAboutCircuits.com and LearningElectroncs.net.
However, you will notice that the educational materials are the same.

 

Ideally -- and they may well have done so in this case (if there were any paid services associated with this site).

But I don't think there is any requirement for this. Businesses that are on shaky financial footing are still allowed to conduct business as usual, including taking (and making) orders, without any requirement to inform customers or vendors of their shaky condition. I'm sure exceptions exist, either in specific circumstances (probably under regulatory agency or court orders) or perhaps in particular industries, but the additional burden of telling customers and vendors that you are on the verge of bankruptcy would often seal the deal and make it impossible for the business to work through its struggles.

Agreed. Free sites have no commitment for anything.
Additionally, I'm not suggesting that there is a requirement of any sort. Unless by written agreement.

However, (I think this is getting a little off topic) bankruptcies are announced all the time.

If the company takes money with the intent of going out of business without providing the service paid for, that's fraud and can be pursued through the courts. But if the company takes the money in good faith and simply ends up being unable to provide the service, that's a matter for a bankruptcy court to settle. The determination of which of those two situations applies is always, to the best of my knowledge, done after the fact.

Yes...Agreed.

 

OK, and I am relieved to know that it was not a troll sort of thing. Or whatever that sort of bad actor is called currently.

 

Hey Bill, looks like this is a good opportunity for you to help the community. If you are interested, I'll work with you to make a new website and I'll cover the costs. What do you think?

 

THANK YOU for the suggestion! That is quite an interesting possibility.

Creating websites and internet operation are outside of my skill sets. But certainly I would like to help the community, at least in the technical aspects. My actual programming experience is ladder logic and UVOS (a version of TBOS, an obsolete language)

If it were possible to recover the files that composed "schematics for free" that could be awesome.
I will contact you through the PM portion here, Except that I do not find that option available when I click on your name. No clue as to what is going on.

 

FANTASTIC GOOD NEWS!!!
"Schematics for free" appears to be back, today, 11/22/2023 !!!!!!!