Can someone trace you if you accept Credit Cards?

hide my identity

[Drum]

The reason I want to hide is this:

My wife's girlfriend's husband has a ecommerce site I would like to compete against. I don't want him to find out because he might tell his wife and ruin the friendship.

I know how to hide my identity in the WhoIs records, but if i accept credit cards online is there a way for him to track me that way? I have not opened my merchant account yet, so i have no experience with this.

Or any other ways he might be able to find out who i am?

[blaze]

It's actually becoming illegal to hide your identity in Whois Records.

[oilman]

fake whois is one thing - private registration by proxy is another

[Corey Bryant]

Are you registering your corporation or something like that? There is always a paper trail of sorts & depending on how much he might want to know, there is a chance.

-Corey

[Drum]

Thanks for your replies.

I was planning on doing the proxy thing and doing Sole Proprietor.

[DoppyNL]

you might as well make clear that you are doing online business and don't hide it.
If a friend of mine wouldn't be my friend anymore simply because I would start working in the same field, then I wouldn't call that a real friend.
Also, I'm sure if he finds out that you're in the same field and that you didn't want him to know that chances are even bigger that the friendship is over.

It's very possible to be in the same field and still be friends; you don't have to hate eachother then...

[jweighell]

Another point is, why do you need to compete in the same market? There are a million different things you can do - why not do something else and then there won't be any such worries!

[Shak]

It's actually becoming illegal to hide your identity in Whois Records.

can you enlighten please?

shak

[Chicken Juggler]

I know in the US you are not allowed to hide your company. If you have a PO Box I can call the Post office that resides at that zip and they have to tell me who you are. Thats an old recruiter trick by the way. If you take credit cards you might be able to hide and get away with it but it is illeagle.

[Dan_Norder]

By current ICANN policy, whois records must be accurate or people can report you and have the name yanked and dropped back into the available pool. Rumor has it that some savvy people have been able to pick up some awesome names because of this.

If you own domains you should have already been getting emails from your registrar telling you that the info has to be accurate and linking to the current data for you to confirm.

If you go through one of those hidden whois data services, you are essentially transferring ownership to that entity with a contract that says you can get it back at any time.

Beyond just the ICANN regulations, some US politicians have introduced measures to make it outright illegal to put false info in a domain name ownership record. This is intended to fight spam, cybersquatting, harassment, crimes, and so forth. I don't know if this would invalidate the hidden whois data services or not, nor do I know if it has a chance of actually passing.

[ControlEngineer]

Sometimes competitors become good friends. You have a head start with your wives' friendships. It will give you guys something to talk about while the women are discussing woman stuff.

[lightswitch]

let me get this strait, why are you all the sudden deciding to compeat against your freind? I mean seriously are you only deciding to go into this bussness because you have learned the ins & outs from him? I'm appalled @ the lack of ethics here.