Now, a private domain registration is obvious. But is it like... guaranteed to do what I mentioned above? Or are there still ways around it? Someone savy enough could figure it out? It would be a fairly tech savy audience reading this blog, so if anyone would be able to do it, they would.
My other question is, if a private registration isn't going to be as private as I need it to be, what else can I do to accomplish what I'm looking to do?
Thanks in advance for any help.
I am just guessing here as I have never done that myself, I wouldn't recommend faking it
Thanks for the suggestions thus far. Any other things I can do?
I never tried it, but is it possible to register a domain name using initials? Like could John Smith register as just J. Smith? Or John S. or less likely... J. S.?
Something tells me there's no real way to have it be as private as I'm looking for it to be.
Mr Bo Jangles: Ha, surprisingly it kinda does a little. But, it looks like it will have to do.
Thanks for the help, guys.
Why on earth did we pay for these services then?
I have some of my domains registered privately for a reason. I have a couple of political opinion domains and I registered them privately so as not to provoke some whacko who does not agree with me to seek me out and murder me or something.
Has anyone found this out for sure?
There is no 100% way to be completely private and hidden (and not risk losing your domain) I've had to issue three PPOs over the years on various cyberstalking issues where I'm reasonably sure the information came from looking it up in WHOIS. For that reason, on many of my domains, I use a role account, like DNS Manager, and a P.O. Box. I was told by someone who specializes in this type of law that there hadn't been any rulings by ICANN against this practice; I haven't kept up on it, so it may have changed. In which case if anyone ever wanted to push it, could be screwed. But if I go down, I'll go down being the biggest and noisiest pain in the butt you ever saw.
So - the short answer is, no. There's no way to 100% guarantee nobody will find out who owns the site. That's the nature of the web.
Get your best friend who you trust to register the domain name.
Furthermore, get an attorney to help you "disappear" under a complicated trail of paperwork. (As long as you aren't doing anything illegal)
Have seen competitors running multiple e-commerce sites with different registrar names.
Nameservers, CSS and registrar are different. However the widgets they sell, company policies, and link portfolio style, uncover their true identity. Can't prove it though.
Is it "FAKE"? - not really.
If the MCNF files for the LLC and this is later sold to you (for $1), the address on the registrar log does not need to be updated to prove ownership.
Get your Mom's sister and/or brother to buy the domain name.
(Assuming your Mom took your Dad's name in marriage).Get your best friend who you trust to register the domain name.
The thing is, if there ever *is* any kind of an issue, that means you may be putting that person at risk of being dragged into it. Which, depending on the nature of the likely issue, could be anywhere from a minor inconvenience to a major pain in the butt. Just something that needs to be thought through first.
Also, there are companies who keep domain name registration history. Some get domain name registration information on newly registered domain names before the registration information is protected. This opens the door for your information to be exposed if you are the one who has registered the name.
To me this means the only way to completely hide the ownership of the name is if someone else registers it and pays the registration for you.
My solution is to find someone else in the biz to do you a favor by registering the name for 10 years. Then update the contact information with an email address using the actual domain name, and have the registrar forward the email to a free email account, which only you have access to. Change the password and you are in the clear.
It would be a fairly tech savvy audience reading this blog, so if anyone would be able to do it, they would.
And they will.
Do not let your family or friends get involved, lawyers will send paperwork to anyone listed in Whois. That means Registrant, Administrative, Technical and Billing Contacts are at risk. I know, it has happened to me at one time. I fired the client and sent them on their merry way. Had no idea what the hell they were doing until after it happened.
I feel like I've entered the Witness Protection Program or something. Here we all are discussing ways to hide. Would you really enjoy going through life looking over your shoulder in a situation like this? And, you have a savvy tech audience to boot? They'll figure it out. There are no secrets on the Internet. Karma. ;)
What happens once they figure it out?
Don't forget prepaid credit cards !
edit: Forgive me for assuming....but this entire thread smells of something "fishy" going on by the OP.
Are you partnered up with some people on 1 site and you are now trying to make a break and start the same kind of site without their knowledge?
[edited by: BaseballGuy at 1:20 am (utc) on May 4, 2009]
Not to mention you writing tone of voice (assuming you write content). It isn't that hard for an intelligent person to compare writing styles and draw a conclusion from that. After that all it would take is a carefully crafted/worded email (on the part of the person whom suspects you) for you to give yourself up.
Get plastic surgery, a sex change and file the prints off your fingertips.
and pay a look alike to tongue-kiss mexican pigs until you're the next cnn headline and a death certificate is written in your name.
according to a search on google you can discover the owner of a private domain by asking the registrar and giving a reason, i haven't done it myself so cannot vouch for the authenticity of the information
I hear what you are saying but if you look at the websites of registrars they say that some people run sites that requires their identity to be protected or their lives could be in danger. And private registration will protect you from those dangers. I think this could be true sometimes. So would giving the registrar a reason for asking about who owns a domain be something that works?
Some people really need to protect themselves.
Get plastic surgery, a sex change and file the prints off your fingertips.
LOL, actually more like ROFL, a bit extreme don't you think? maybe just take the tin foil hat off - it's the web, anyone determined enough will find a connection (cue x-files music) at some point you have to be who you are
