... sounds like anyone who wants to register names in secrecy might want to have a look
Also, such a service would make SEO people think something :)
I think one way, SEs tries to check that two domains are different is by whois info of the domain - but what if that info is not available anymore ;)
i also wonder what can this mean to Se who check domain ownership. i think google does this right? can they even penalize for not seeing domain owner?
I've heard they have a "disk" of historical domain records...so even if you register it in one name and change it later they can still see what it was before. Whois may be the greatest tool they have.
I thought their service was a good idea, in fact, I would have used it for, say, $1 a domain, but $10? Nah.
Richard Lowe
Quoted from Louis Touton Vice-President and General Counsel of ICANN
Under section 3.3 of the RAA, each ICANN-accredited registrar has agreed to provide free public Whois service giving information about the registrations it sponsors in the registry. Among other elements, the information must include:- The name and postal address of the Registered Name Holder;
- The name, postal address, e-mail address, voice telephone number, and (where available) fax number of the technical contact for the Registered Name; and
- The name, postal address, e-mail address, voice telephone number, and (where available) fax number of the administrative contact for the Registered Name
Here is some interesting reading on the subject...
ICANN's Official Letter to NSI about being more compliant [icann.org]
ICANN's Registrar Advisory Concerning Whois Data Accuracy [icann.org]
I think there is a very strong argument GoDaddy is violating section 3.3 of the RAA.
I had a problem with godaddy when I tried to get them to change some details due to spam and they even quoted Section 3.3.
The only thing i can think is that maybe icann are relaxing some of the guidelines or goddday are going make the whois a non automated service but keep it free.
DaveN
I have just seen what the DBP are doing they actually register the domain for themselves they are the owners and registrant and basically you rent the domain name from them.
...exactly... that's why there is no violation... THEY are the registrant, so they provide THEIR info... and side-step 3.3
I also think it is ICANN's responsability to stop the spam from the public whois data. They require it, but feel no responsability to police who and what it is used for. If it is impossible to provide this service then get rid of public whois data.
'spam' ...yeah, I have few domains with them... if they email me about anything *other* than those domains, I call that spam... aka unwanted advertising filling up my email box... glad you all found my use (or misuse) of that term more interesting than the subject matter.
Well, the rest of us noticed all those opt-in/opt-out boxes during the Godaddy purchase process.
Lisa:
I think there is a very strong argument GoDaddy is violating section 3.3 of the RAA.
No there isn't, because Domains By Proxy is obeying the requirements of section 3.7.7.3 [icann.org]. DNP is the legal registrant; the person paying for the registration is just subletting (and doing so under fairly strict rules).
As soon as section 3.7.7.3 was written, lawyers and geeks have known it was going to be used like this eventually. That was half the point of writing it.
Ahh... yes... That would explain why I didn't get the news then. ;)
If it is a "subletting" agreement, I wouldn't want anything to do with it. Personally, I've found GoDaddy's anti-spidering measures have worked wonders for the amount of spam I receive anyway, so I don't see much need to bother.
...but it's a good thing you got idiots like me running around randomly unchecking and checking boxes or we would not have known about this little tidbit now would we?
