

Report Invalid Whois Contact Information to ICANN? - hafichuk
http://www.elliotsblog.com/report-invalid-email-addresses-to-icann-1937

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npsimons
I really hate this whole business of domain name marketing. You get
scummy/scammy/slimy tactics like this when people are motivated to game the
system for profit.

You know what? I have no obligation to keep an open line of communication to
anyone. I mainly have a domain so I don't have to memorize the IP address of
my servers that mainly I use, and so I never have to change my email address.
My registrar can get ahold of me for billing and technical purposes, but
otherwise I don't want to see spam about domain name SEO BS. I may keep the
requisite RFC recommended email aliases open for technical contact purposes,
but I have no responsibility to respond to emails sent to those addresses, and
I fully reserve the right to drop all traffic from IPs that send spam to those
email addresses.

~~~
alanctgardner2
> I have no obligation to keep an open line of communication to anyone.

I'm pretty sure keeping your WHOIS info up to date is an obligation imposed by
your registrar's TOS (unless you pay their stupid privacy fee). Not saying you
aren't right, I just think if they wanted to yank your domain for not
complying they're technically in the right - I would recommend using a valid
email to avoid getting screwed.

~~~
npsimons
I do use valid email addresses, and my registrar cloaks them, specifically
because of BS tactics like those mentioned in this article. I feel that if
someone pulls shit like reporting someone to ICANN for "unresponsiveness",
especially if they don't get a bounce, and without trying to go through the
registrar first, they should be banned from registering domains for a full
year. Second offense, permanent ban. I've paid my fees for my domain, in full
for the next ten years, and will keep it up indefinitely. There's absolutely
_no_ reason that myself and others like me should have to deal with this
bullshit.

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arkitaip
It _is_ a slimy tactic to report someone's email address just because you
can't get hold of them. No wonder this is written by a domain peddler.

~~~
smoyer
I like the domains I've registered - that's why I paid to get them. If you
contact me about one of them, I won't reply since it's really none of your
business. Why should I spend the time to answer?

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user24
Yeah I've often wondered if this would be an effective way of stealing
domains.

On a side note, does anyone know if Kirsty and Robert still work at
ycombinator? No reason.

edit: Ooh, it looks like YC's address info is incorrect on one of their whois
entries. Are they at 32 or 320 Pioneer Way? And those phone numbers are
completely wrong too.

~~~
ChikkaChiChi
IME, I believe you have to play 'The Bachelor Domain Ownership Edition' in
which you have to prove you are more worthy to own the domain.

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ChikkaChiChi
On a lark in 2005, I reported Unilever to ICANN after being unable to reach a
person regarding a domain they owned but had gone unused since its creation
(according to Wayback). I helped our team file an official domain ownership
dispute then promptly forgot about it since it was in our lawyer's hands.

Six months later I noticed that ownership had changed and much to the chagrin
of our domain manager and legal representative who was supposed to handle the
whole thing; the domain was in the hands of another company who had legal
trademark right in another industry.

Not sure if corollary is causal here, but it 'FELT' like ICANN worked for a
brief second, there.

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eeeeeeeeeeeee
Grabbing a domain via this method does feel slimy. The main reason there are
so many inaccurate WHOIS records are because spammers scan the records and
inundate you with spam/phishing.

My registrar "accidentally" put my real mobile number from my billing info
(instead of my Skype number) in my WHOIS record once and I had to get another
number it was so bad.

~~~
freejack
If that's true, get a new registrar. I've had my home number and
alternatively, my cell number, listed on my registrations and I've _never_
received a phone call as a result.

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billpg
Am I required to respond to people who contact me if I want to keep my
domains?

I've been approached by someone who wanted a domain I have, but I usually just
don't respond, lest my words be seen as "bad faith".

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driverdan
Domain names have have three contact points, address, phone and email. If only
one is wrong I doubt the domain will be deleted. If all the contact info is
wrong then sure, dispute it and let it go back into the pool.

I've reported domains that had obviously fake contact info on them, like fake
phone numbers or fake addresses. If you don't want to use real info use a
proxy service.

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larrys
"suggesting that the domain name can be reported to ICANN, and if they can’t
get in touch with the owner, it might be delete (sic) and he could possibly
catch the drop."

Well first to clear something up ICANN merely forwards these complaints to
registrars to investigate.

ICANN does not do anything to delete the domain name or anything like that.

Nor do they have any way to do that (other than getting the registrar of the
name to delete it which they aren't going to do). There is no button they can
press. In theory the registry above the registrar (Verisign for .com .net, PIR
for .org, Afilias for .info) could but they won't either.

A registrar will simply attempt to contact the owner and depending on how that
goes will decide how to proceed with something like this. For practical and
legal reasons registrars are not going to delete a domain name and invite a
host of problems just because of an incorrect email address and because a form
was submitted to ICANN. (There are other things they might do but that's not
the practical solution to the problem).

The above is based on my involvement with a registrar for many many years
(longer than most registrars have been around) on what you could call a
"senior" level.

~~~
ChikkaChiChi
Does any part of my anecdote (below) hold water, then? We were able to prove
trademark ownership, active protection, and commercial use which leads me to
believe it was enough for ICANN and (an assumption on my part) Network
Solutions to proceed with releasing it.

~~~
larrys
Noting that I said "There are other things they might do"

So without knowing the specific domain it would be important to know whether
the domain was actually deleted (at which point it becomes a free for all in
the drop) or something else happened to it (like an inside job at the
registrar). By the way Network Solutions was famous for this happening. I
don't know if it happens anymore (there) or when it stopped happening (there)
but many people got hold of domains by having an inside employee at NSI work
with them.

If you gave me the domain name I could check a few things and possibly either
rule in or rule out the possibilities.

But once again ICANN would only forward the report to the registrar and they
decide how it will be handled etc.

The trademark stuff means nothing in the scheme of this!

Proving a trademark and gaining ownership is a completely different process.
If you were to call us and try to get a domain that way it wouldn't (and
shouldn't) work.

Related things happen quite frequently. Specifically some web guy registers a
domain name for a client and then the client tries to get hold of the domain.
We don't (and can't) get in the middle of those things. I suspect other
registrar operate in a close fashion.

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cyansmoker
tl;dr:

"Someone pointed out to me that I could game the system to get my hands on a
domain I may make money reselling. I have mixed feelings because I'm a good
person but still I like money. In the end I don't think I will do it. Where is
my cookie?"

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tbrownaw
I get that it's useful to have the occasional reminder of the importance of
paperwork, but does it really need to come in the form of such a horrid
looking site?

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adaml_623
If a domain registrar really needed force a response from a registrant they
would probably just shut off the domain (disable it) rather than deleting it.

IMHO

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andyhmltn
ICANN are extremely vigilant in this area. I once reported a website when I
couldn't get in contact with the owner and within 2 days it was taken down

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ivanbrussik
oooh so dirty, i like it

