View Full Version : .COM & .NET domains
Hello!
I have been searching for solutions and information about this for a while and came up with nothing, so thought I'd try here for assistance...
Does anyone know whether it's possible to hide your domain registration details from the whois database?
I have two registered .com domains, and on both entries my personal address details are present in the public database.
I would naturally prefer for them to be hidden, but I'm sure I read something a while ago stating that they HAVE to be shown?
Can anyone suggest who I should contact, or has anyone successfully requested for their details to be hidden?
Thanks for your time chaps!
Mark
Oceanz
3rd Jan 2007, 21:44
Yes, the details for the registrant do have to be shown. And theoretically they have to be correct. False information can lead to the registratiopn being cancelled. Several of my domains have been checked up on over the last few months.
Oceanz
Gertrude the Wombat
3rd Jan 2007, 22:00
I would naturally prefer for them to be hidden
Why??
Sounds fairly unnatural to me. (The more ways people can get in touch with me, the more business I can get.)
Smile!!!
3rd Jan 2007, 23:29
I thought it was all a legal matter, i.e, content from your site is illegal, stealing copyright etc, then the dtails must be known (not saying you do these things, as never been to your site:)) If a company wants to challenge you with the relevant body their soliceters will have to cantact you. Like ryanair did with ryanair.org.uk succsesfully and ryanaircampaign.org unsucsessfully. Hope it helps!
If they are commercial sites, then I don't know the detailed rules.
However, there are registrations that say something like "The registrant is a non-trading individual who has opted to have their address omitted from the WHOIS service". My daughter is one such, with two domains she owns described like that.
Oceanz
4th Jan 2007, 00:54
"The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the nonprofit body responsible for accrediting domain name registrars, requires all accredited domain name providers (including Network Solutions®) to make your contact information publicly available."
This is from networksolutions.com. See also ICANN (http://icann.org/topics/whois-services/)
vapilot2004
4th Jan 2007, 01:28
Contact your registrar from where you last purchased your domain names. Many, if not all, offer 'proxied' private domain registrations - your address is indeed kept out of the public domain with a private reg.
Good Luck!
*** It has been kindly brought to my attention that some may consider the privacy-assured proxy system of domain registration as an 'unlawful practice' - possibly soon to be quashed by ICANN. :sad:
The other thing is that putting
<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOINDEX,NOFOLLOW">
in the headers of the base page (index.html normally) prevents search engines indexing the site. I do this on a few websites, not only to reduce the search engine activity but also to simply prevent people finding them on google. It's worked amazingly well for years.
If you want to do dirty tricks like stuffing your web pages with keywords which cause your site to be picked up when somebody googles for a competitor (this is probably illegal) there are various companies that will perform that service for you; I think they create dynamic content which then gets indexed up by the search engines but if the site gets hit from an IP which is not a search engine, the offending test is not presented :)
Oceanz
4th Jan 2007, 06:37
I have now waded through the various latest RFC's & proposals and it really is all over the place.
Basically the proposals seem to be pointing towards having the registration info in the whois more restricted for individuals and subject to the privacy laws of each country - though what country would be a moot point - the affiliate who you often buy the name through, or the company they are affiliated with etc?
Given the glacial pace of most ICANN changes, I can't see this happening for a while. If the registrar offers services to hide the info then use it - the worst that could happen is that they may have to reveal the info in whois at some stage in the future.
Oceanz
Thanks for all your replies chaps. :D
I have given the domain administrators another try on e-mail.
If I get a response (I didn't last time!) I'll post the results here.
If the entries can be amended to what 'Keef' has suggested that would be fine.
I do think you should be given the option of having your details hidden from public gaze. Naturally there should be exceptions for legal purposes etc, but I'm slightly uncomfortable with having everything shown.
Some domain registrants may not even be aware that their details are being shared worldwide without their knowledge for instance.
Mark
Thanks for all your replies chaps. :D
I have given the domain administrators another try on e-mail.
If I get a response (I didn't last time!) I'll post the results here.
Check this link: https://www.namecheap.com/learn/privacy-protection/whoisguard-whois-protection.asp
If the Registrar that you had registered your domain names has the feature (normally you have to pay for the feature), then you are in luck. Otherwise, you might want to consider moving to one that has.
uid0
As promised, I have received a reply from my ISP...
Dear Mark Russell,
Thank you for your e-mail. Unfortunately, '.com' domains cannot have the details removed from the 'Whois' record. This restriction has been put in by the higher registrar of the domain.
I'm sorry I cannot help further.