What exactly is that and how do they know?!
I am spending over $1000 a year with this company, you might think they would contact me if something was out of place rather than insulting me with this nickle and dime robbery.
[edited by: Webwork at 9:59 pm (utc) on Jan. 31, 2006]
[edit reason] Charter [webmasterworld.com] [/edit]
I'm interested to know if anyone else has faced this issue and how they handled it.
Are all errors subject to sanction? What if you moved and didn't update the Whois "right away"?
How do they know the info is wrong? How do they check? Do they shoot first and ask questions later?
Are there any ICANN rules or is this the wild west?
What's fair and what isn't?
Again, let's keep mention of specific registrars out of the mix and keep the focus on the procedures, rules, standards, industry practices, etc.
Thanks.
From the ICANN website [icann.org]:
...the provision of false Whois information can be grounds for cancellation of your domain name registration.
My registrar received a complaint last year over the false whois info on a controversial website I manage (pissed someone off, hehe), so I had to privatize it. Didn't get charged, but $9.95 is a small price to pay considering you could possibly lose your domain if the whois information is incorrect.
[edited by: martinibuster at 10:11 pm (utc) on Jan. 31, 2006]
For example, I have 1000 domains and on 1 there's an error in a phone number. Just an oddball reg, a typo I didn't catch and I didn't update my template globally thereafter.
What exactly are the standards for judging?
What if I just moved and haven't gotten around to updating everything? It was true at the time so, if I move, is it false? Did I file a false WhoIs?
How do they judge? There's money involved. That calls for due process in my book. What, exactly, is domain penalty due process?
I can see for massively false WhoIs info, but even in that circumstance - how do they know? What if you reg'ed the domain for a friend and the friend moved, changed address, etc?
"What did the registrar know and when did they know it?"
And when did you stop beating your wife? :-P
Sometimes spammers are using random domain names and when traced authorities try to contact the suspected domain name owner. If they couldn't find you by your whois data then they contact your registrar for assistance.
Bottomline, keep your whois admin email current!
Here's the rub for me: "False reports" are not the same as innocent mistakes.
And here's the counter-rub:
Registrars are required to send you a notice once a year, according to this ICANN FAQ [icann.org]. So at some point you should have been asked to verify your information. The amount of domains one has registered doesn't seem like a valid excuse from the responsibility inherent in managing them.
The wording on these pages seem to be fairly flexible. For instance, the above quote states that false info can result in having the domain yanked. Doesn't say it has to.
Those are pretty loose rules and gives the registrars a lot of room to set their own policy.
Has anyone lost their domain because of false whois?
I suspect that Average Joe who moves without updating his info won't lose his domain.
[edited by: martinibuster at 10:27 pm (utc) on Jan. 31, 2006]
How it happened: This afternoon someone emailed me about purchasing the domain. They got my email and snailmail address from doing a whois.
Thing is, I listed my phone # as 555-555-5555 because I don't want calls. The chucklehead decided he was going to "get even" (good karma for him), so even though he easily contacted me by email he then went on to send in a complaint that the phone number was wrong.
I called the registrar but of course they sided with the chucklehead. In fact the registrar said they could take the domain in 15-days. Good thing I wasn't on vacation.
Also, this is funny: for a additonal fee the registrar said I can hide the whois information. What is the difference between putting 555-555-5555 as the phone number and hiding all the contact information? The way it was, at least anyone can contact me by email.
I use a PO box to avoid listing my home address but a Proxy domain address is looking better.
What is the difference between putting 555-555-5555 as the phone number and hiding all the contact information?
555-555-5555 could be the phone number of another person that do not like the idea of being called... :)
[edited by: wildbest at 10:47 pm (utc) on Jan. 31, 2006]
Your way:
Incorrect information can make access to customers difficult;
registrar has no added income stream;
The private registration way:
Information is probably correct a higher percentage of the time should it need to be tapped by registrar (or via a court order);
registrar gains an income stream.
Small wonder the registrars of our lil' blue marble like this deal.
Unfortunately they're within their rights to charge an administrative fee. It's in the first few paragraphs of their service agreement.
Of course, not everyone agrees with it, including me. If you don't agree with it, move your names elsewhere.
If you're thinking of doing a chargeback, don't do it until you move your names out of there or you'll be in for another 4U surprise. (that's Unannounced, Unexpected, Uninvited, Unwanted...)
Oh, and they also charge the registrant $29 for someone "making a legal inquiry", especially if they receive a UDRP. I can show you links and all if you want to verify it, though that'll have to be done privately.
Actually, it couldn't: in the US there is no valid 555 area code (the first three digits) or exchange (the next three). So the number 555-555-5555 is often used as a fictional number and is easily recognized as that.
One tip: use a free voicemail number. Or for a small fee, a voicemail to email number if you actually want to be able to know if someone's calling it and don't want to have to regularly check for messages.
I just don't want wierdos calling me at 2am from China asking about a domain name. I am easily available by email or snailmail.
So my registrar checks my whois, which takes about 2-seconds, and then steals $9.95 from me. But that is OK because I take every chance I get now to stear clients and forum members away from this registrar. And of course I no longer register my domains with them either.
It is the most expensive $9.95 they have ever made.
Depending on the registrar, that can be a false sense of security.
Depending on the registrar, that can be a false sense of security
Ok. I'm not asking for recommendations of registrars here but what are the questions we should ask our registrar about their whois privacy?
