This is not another 'WHOIS Privacy vs SEO' thread

[Asia_Expat]

I live in a southeast Asian nation that attracts a lot of undesireables (read: Russian mafia, ex-convicts with an attitude, fraudsters, perverts etc etc) and as the operator of an expatriate information site for this country, I attract a lot of abusive feedback, particularly from webmasters after I demand they remove content they stole from me. Some of the things I have to read aren't publishable here... but it's bad, believe me.

I've resisted WHOIS privacy and I am not going to use it, mainly due to the fact that there is still an archive of old data that could easily be found.

I use a false address, I know I'm not supposed to but there really is a risk of abuse in this part of the world. I am now thinking about changing the name on the WHOIS (which is currently my real name) to the name of my website.

The domain is around two and a half years old and my traffic is growing steadily, presently around 1,500 uniques a day from Google. Does anyone have any insight about the effect this might have, or any advice to give me about this issue... because I just want to be left alone and enjoy my life with my wife and family here, while I operate my completely above board, family friendly website.

[edited by: Asia_Expat at 3:52 pm (utc) on Jan. 22, 2009]

[Quadrille]

How is false whois conceivably better than WHOIS privacy?

You could lose your domain if one of your (apparently many) enemies shows your data to be false and chooses to make a fuss.

Why put yourself in the wrong?

Why not use whois privacy (that's what it's there for!)?

[encyclo]

I resisted whois privacy for a long time, and criticized those who used it, especially for company websites. I revised my opinion due to the misuse of whois information by someone for one of my domains in a way that invaded my privacy.

If you have a registered company, then by all means use it for your domain registration. Don't use a false address, your local postal company surely offers a PO Box service for a small fee, so use that.

If the domain is in your personal name, don't hesitate to get domain privacy from a reputable provider. The archived whois information you can do little about, but it will not be a significant issue.

For the change of domain information in relation to the search engines, it is very unlikely to have any effect. It might be considered a change of ownership if the entire site changes as well, but the importance of whois information in the algo is usually overstated.

[Asia_Expat]

Well, I thought long and hard about it. My website is 100 percent white hat, so WHOIS privacy on it's own should not trigger any red flags in search engines (if there's any justice in the world)... but what's the point if the archived details can be read?

I know you're being tongue in cheek... but I don't have 'many enemies'... however, there are a lot of foreigners here with a lot of time on their hands, so they spend 16 hours a day on local forums hitting the refresh button dreaming up new ways to upset people from behind their monitor. Sometimes, you will be threatened simply for having the gall to run a website and having an opinion. Some parts of this country are like the wild west. It's prudent to protect your address. I also once did an expose on underage prostitution in one of the bars here that foreigners frequent... that alone could leave me vulnerable to repercussions. Many of those bars are operated by people that wouldn't flinch at sending me to the bottom of the river in a plastic bag.

It's no joking matter.

[Asia_Expat]

Thanks encyclo... food for thought.,Maybve it is the way forward after all.