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I'm Bill Hartzer, Director of DNProtect AMA

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I'm Bill Hartzer, and I am the Director of DNProtect.

I developed the algorithm behind DNP Score, which gives you a free analysis/report of any domain name.

I have also personally dealt with hundreds of stolen domain name cases since DNProtect has been offering the service the past few years.

Ask me anything related to domain name due diligence or stolen domain names.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Should you not have a different phone number?

Google 1-(206) 826-2345.

Contact Us - Epik.com

https://www.epik.com › about › contact





Telephone: (800) 410-0728. (206) 826-2345 ... Usually, we answer support inquiries and complaints within one business day. Legendary Customer Support.


Contact Us - DNProtect​

https://dnprotect.com › legal › contact





DNPROTECT. Contact Us. DNProtect, LLC 1712 Pioneer Ave Suite 115. Cheyenne, WY 82001. Call Us at +1-(206) 826-2345. US Toll-Free (800) 410-0728


About US - DNEncrypt - The future of Domain Encryption​

https://dnencrypt.com › about-us





Worldwide: +1-(206) 826-2345 · US Toll-free: (800) 410-0728. × Close. Loading... Loading... Close Submit. Footer Logo. © 2020 DNEncrypt.
 
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Personally, I don't think association with Epik hurt the DNProtect brand. The website needs to be updated, and the new version of the site should roll out soon. I don't know anything about the status of any other brands, products, etc.. I'm not an employee, staff, or associated anymore. If I knew anything I would tell you.

This is the last post I'm going to make that mentions Epik. It's not the point of this thread anyway, I would rather spread my knowledge here about stolen domain names and protecting them.
When you talk about domains you cannot ignore the parent of your company/brand. I will take @bmugford 's lead, wave my hand, wish you best of luck. I hope you have a lot of success. You sound like you do have knowledge to share.
 
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Should you not have a different phone number?

Google 1-(206) 826-2345.

Contact Us - Epik.com

https://www.epik.com › about › contact





Telephone: (800) 410-0728. (206) 826-2345 ... Usually, we answer support inquiries and complaints within one business day. Legendary Customer Support.

Contact Us - DNProtect

https://dnprotect.com › legal › contact




DNPROTECT. Contact Us. DNProtect, LLC 1712 Pioneer Ave Suite 115. Cheyenne, WY 82001. Call Us at +1-(206) 826-2345. US Toll-Free (800) 410-0728

About US - DNEncrypt - The future of Domain Encryption

https://dnencrypt.com › about-us




Worldwide: +1-(206) 826-2345 · US Toll-free: (800) 410-0728. × Close. Loading... Loading... Close Submit. Footer Logo. © 2020 DNEncrypt.
Yes, new version of the site is rolling out soon, with the updated information. Thanks for mentioning, as it's incorrect currently.
 
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Relax. It does take some time to make your serp trails disappear.
 
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I started DNProtect in February 2020 as a partnership with Rob M. So 50/50 with Rob, not Epik. Ownership could change in the future.

Yes, new version of the site is rolling out soon, with the updated information. Thanks for mentioning, as it's incorrect currently.


Just incorrect currently!!!
Or not epik from the beginning and ownership may be changed in the future !!!!
Or it was just part of epik labs not epik !!!

-----------

Is there something scary in the responses that makes us worry about this person, and it is a promotional post for his site that has turned against him!!
 
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Screenshot_20221007-001210.jpg



2020 : we are epik
2021 : they are an investor
September 2022 : be epik
October 2022 : epik !!!!!
 
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I am getting a little bit confused about whois privacy. You said earlier that you do not recommend it, but your own Domain Protect service includes it:

https://dnprotect.com/protect-a-domain
 
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We include whois privacy as a feature because some domain owners may choose to use it (because of GDPR, etc.).
Hi

is the whois privacy, under a dnprotect.com email address or some other privacy service/provider?

also, if a domain owner already had name on privacy and used your service, would it need to be changed to validate/verify owner or ok, as is?

Thanks

imo...
 
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Hi

is the whois privacy, under a dnprotect.com email address or some other privacy service/provider?

also, if a domain owner already had name on privacy and used your service, would it need to be changed to validate/verify owner or ok, as is?

Thanks

imo...
There are a few options available to customers. If they used or prefer to use another service, that's perfectly fine. Usually we ask for a DNS TXT record entry to verify ownership.
 
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You mentioned you developed the algorithm yourself. What did that entail, and how did you decide to weight each factor? Are there other factors people should consider when conducting due diligence that might have been too difficult or subjective to incorporate into your algorithm?
I developed a domain "due diligence" list of things to check about 15 years ago, and have been using that list every since. The list was pretty much all done by hand, as in manual checks and then the data put into a spreadsheet.

If you're interested in my original list, then all of this is still valid, and definitely worth a read/listen:
https://www.domainsherpa.com/bill-hartzer-verified-domains/

DNP Score takes only certain things from my full list, automates the checking of the items, and gives you a report. There are certain items that are not automatically calculated, such as reviewing the links to the domain (Trust Flow, Citation Flow, etc. from Majestic). I would only be checking the links to the domain if you're going to use the domain for a website. So, it's not really appropriate to include where the site has good or bad links when calculating DNP Score on a domain.
 
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It is not a concern I have but just a statement of fact. Just don't present brands as separate entities when they are clearly part of Epik. There is nothing wrong for a company to have different brands.
I agree, nothing wrong with a company having different brands. How it was presented were marketing decision(s) by Epik's marketing team, I wasn't involved in the messaging or asked about it.
 
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I agree, nothing wrong with a company having different brands. How it was presented were marketing decision(s) by Epik's marketing team, I wasn't involved in the messaging or asked about it.
Did Epik also decide to give you the "Epik.com Staff" badge on this forum? (your previous badge)
 
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I agree, nothing wrong with a company having different brands. How it was presented were marketing decision(s) by Epik's marketing team, I wasn't involved in the messaging or asked about it.
I wasn't intending to comment on this thread more but since you quoted me. I would be upset if a company would use a product I put my heart into for many years as part of their lineup of products without consulting me. And from the perspective of the umbrella brand, in this case Epik, I would not allow any product to use my brand name unless there is a mutual agreement on the messaging and that the parent brand would have the authority to decide that messaging, design, marketing, etc. Since the parent brand is responsible for the the advertising and collateral, and is putting their own reputation or brand equity behind it.
 
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From what I have read so far, it would appear you have parted ways with Epik but with a contractual agreement that you could not say anything negative about that company and which includes an NDA. However, the challenge is to maneuver this fine line when Epik has had their reputation challenged so publicly and in most cases has chosen to be silent for reasons we can only speculate.
 
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If I was your marketing consultant I would advise you to create a new brand, new design, new everything, including new host. Wait until all residual links and mentions are removed from Epik then redirect dnprotect to the new brand. However, still being hosted at Epik while at the same time saying that you were not consulted about the marketing decisions, why? What is the point?
 
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Did Epik also decide to give you the "Epik.com Staff" badge on this forum? (your previous badge)
Actually, I am not sure how that previous badge appeared, I personally did not request it.
 
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Actually, I am not sure how that previous badge appeared, I personally did not request it.
I won't judge whether you let all this happen. I'm glad you're in control now.
 
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It appears you cannot say many things you would like to because your hands are tied. Again, I wish you best of luck. Lots of success.
 
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If we lose a domain, via push or authcode, would we be informed about it by email, and can we see a record of it, at registrar level; always (at any registrar, at all times)?
 
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If we lose a domain, via push or authcode, would we be informed about it by email, and can we see a record of it, at registrar level; always (at any registrar, at all times)?
You are "supposed to be" notified by the registrar when a transfer is initiated so you can approve it or stop it.

But when a domain name is stolen you are NOT notified, the hacker/thief usually makes sure that you aren't notified, such as they will turn off 2FA, change the email address on the account, etc.

There are plenty of cases that I've dealt with where a registrar account was accessed without permission, the domain thief went in and transferred the domain out. The domain owner was notified that it was being transferred out, the domain owner told the registrar "NO! do not transfer", and the registrar did it anyway. Then, after complaints, the registrar said that the transfer complied with ICANN rules.
 
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I'm Bill Hartzer, and I am the Director of DNProtect.

I started DNProtect in February 2020 as a partnership with Rob M. So 50/50 with Rob, not Epik. Ownership could change in the future.

Words have meanings. You are either in a partnership with Rob, in which case you are a "partner", or you are running a corporation of some kind, in which case you are a "director".

So, it has nothing to do with Epik, but.....

Screen Shot 2022-12-05 at 11.06.30 AM.png


The article linked there is about this UDRP:

Screen Shot 2022-12-05 at 11.38.00 AM.png


"Epik's DNProtect.com service"

It seems that Rob is not as clear as Bill on who owns DNProtect or whether it is part of Epik.

But that's hardly the only problem with Bill's various contradictory statements. While, absolutely, Bill has a point that there are a lot of ways to determine various sorts of "risk" with domain names, there are also ways of determining the risk of doing business with people who are not straightforward about their own company.

So, Bill is the "director" of a 50/50 partnership with Rob. And, again, a partnership is not a corporation, nor is it an LLC.

Which is where we come to the really strange part, since there is always something strange about businesses related to Epik.

DNProtect is not actually a partnership of any kind. It WAS a Wyoming LLC with a familiar Washington business address:

https://wyobiz.wyo.gov/Business/Fil...088039031002124224153158053245194148151116043

Screen Shot 2022-12-05 at 11.04.47 AM.png



But, like all things Epik, the bills weren't paid, the registered agent resigned because they weren't getting paid either, and DNProtect LLC was administratively dissolved by the State of Wyoming last month.

Wait, wait, don't tell me... the DNProtect LLC formed in Wyoming and now defunct had nothing to do with the "real" DNProtect, is that it?
 
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Claiming a profile has no effect whatsoever on a domain's DNP Score. So you can put that to rest.
Instead of just repeating what we've already discussed earlier in this thread (and at the same time not responding to John's posting above), you'd better remove the following crap from the source code of DNProtect.com:

"They may also choose to purchase a “forever registration”, which they can do at Epik.com."

See also:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/th...terbucks-wallet.1284050/page-129#post-8780206
 
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