What's your approch to listingwhois info?

[Grrilla]

Am wrestling w/ the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of listing one's whois info. ie:

-Actual Info w/.real name, home address (if you don't have a business address.), #'s etc
-Physical business address w. real name.
-Real name w/ dummied in personal info
-Alias w/ actual personal info
-Dummied in- aliased everything.

It's fiscally impractical to pay fpr privacy w/ the large # of domains I own.

-Wondering what the advantages are of going w/ total or partial alias name and/or info?
-Do see certain advantages for privacy when negotiating a sale or purchase, as in the case of a quick purchase/resale, or if a company wants to keep the lid on an upcoming ad campaign- but what other advantages might there be?
-What security and legal issues are involved, as in the aftermath of a domain hijacking?

What do you do?

 

[aww]

Note that legally your domain can be taken away from you if you use completely false information in whois.

Registrars are required to test your email address for communication. If that fails it will also give you headaches.

Get a po box and use that. Company name instead of personal name is also acceptable. But completely fake will backfire on you sooner or later.

 

[vanesaa]

I never heard of someone having problems because he enter fake contact details. Just don't put a fake email address-provide one that you use, or create a free one.
I always use my real contact details, I don't bother for others to see who I am, it's a matter of attitude because I have nothing to hide :lol however never ever someone asked me to confirm that my contact details are true by sending any confiramtion papers e.g. copy of id.
I forgot to mention that a friend of mine had the same thoughts in the beginning of his "domain career" but as the time passed he realised all this was just a beginners fear of exposing something of yourself to the net.

 

[jj2ii3344]

I use true information for my domain names. I second on aww's approach to listing your whois information. In my area, PO boxes start from $9.99 CDN ($7.00 USD) per month. That might perhaps be the best way of listing accurate information on your domain name without the risk of them being taken away.

 

[Grrilla]

TX all. I didn't realize a pobox was acceptable. My approach is to list my studio business address w/ my actual name and use an email address connected w/ a webaddress that I use for dn marketing- no sense in hiding that. However, I do have domains spread outw/ over 20 different registrars, no longer use a hotmail address, that may still be on record, have recently moved, and have a new phone # (that I would prefer not to have on public record). I am in the process of changing my whois w/ each registrar, but am vacillating over the phone #.

How important is having an actual working phone #, if all other info is correct?

Exactly what problems can occur if the email address that the domain was originally listed under is no longer active, but all of the other info is correct?

My OP questions are a result of seeing the variety of ways people are listing their whois, and was wondering what the advantages were of using alias info, as well as the pitfalls, which you have addressed.

For instance, I have seen contact person names listed as "Administrator", "DN Guru" and company names listed as: "USE FOR MAILING LISTS MAY CARRY CHARGE", "Buy Domains Here". Also run across instances where the contact address and/ or phone contact look bogus or are out of date.

It seems that as long as some of the info is correct, the owner is OK, but I also here stories of where having a small detail like a zip code typo can cause problems.

 

[vanesaa]

Originally posted by Grrilla
For instance, I have seen contact person names listed as "Administrator", "DN Guru" and company names listed as: "USE FOR MAILING LISTS MAY CARRY CHARGE", "Buy Domains Here". Also run across instances where the contact address and/ or phone contact look bogus or are out of date.

I have noticed that also! How these people don't afraid of the consequences (if any)?

 

[RodRoth]

I feel that personal information in a WhoIs should be kept with the registration service and not broadcasted out over the internet. Also, what consequences are there from having a full truthfull WhoIs?

 

[jim]

edit:
BTW welcome RodRoth

Exactly what problems can occur if the email address that the domain was originally listed under is no longer active

I have the domain NoValideMail.com and over the years I gotten renewal notices from dozens of registrars for contacts that didn't want... I guess to be spammed.... But the also didn't get renewal notices.

 

[VentureDomains]

Dear Grilla,
Use a PO Box and get an email address at a challenge response email host like mail blocks <mailblocks.com> That way you get your important mail but don't get the spam. If you have alot of domain names you will get lots!!! of spam.

Good luck
Kevin

 

[Wilfredo]

Dont see any prob with listing it, advantage use the email that you use ;D

 

[redhippo]

i use PO box .
no problems so far except a letter from DROA!!

 

[jim]

I have the domain NoValideMail.com and over the years I gotten renewal notices from dozens of registrars for contacts that didn't want... I guess to be spammed.... But the also didn't get renewal notices.

Hi,
heres a prime example received today

Dear Network Solutions® Customer,

We have received a request to reset the password for "registrants name". In order to change or re-enter the password, please click on the link below or copy and paste it into your browser. The Web page displayed will allow you to change your password.
<link edited>
If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact Customer Service at [email protected].

Thank you for choosing Network Solutions. We are committed to delivering high quality services to meet your online needs.


Sincerely,

Network Solutions Customer Support

I wonder if I click the link I'll get a "pot of gold" %%-

jim

 

[kaliboy2g]

pay the $1 or so and have it private

 

[Grrilla]

If it was $1.00, I would do it for names that, for one reason or another, I wanted to be private. If I ever got extreme and wanted to get "semi-off the grid", maybe I would go private w/ all of them. But, unless I'm misunderstanding something, going private is a bit more expensive. GoDaddy, which usually has fairly decent rates, has a private domain feature that lists @ $12/ name and is "on sale" for $9.00.

 

[.edu]

Just get a p.o. box if you have a large amount of domain and don't want your real address and use Domain Admin as the name or use a company name.