If you have a website you want to read this.

[JackWebb]

Hi Guys!

I got this in my inbox today from NameCheap.. We need to stand up and make some noise about this.


https://www.respectourprivacy.com

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Hello John,

Did you know that your privacy rights are currently under threat? ICANN is considering introducing a rule that would impact all netizens. If you care about your online privacy, this is a big deal.

Under new guidelines proposed by MarkMonitor and other organizations who represent the same industries that backed SOPA, domain holders with sites associated to "commercial activity" will no longer be able to protect their private information with WHOIS protection services. "Commercial activity" casts a wide net, which means a vast number of domain holders will be affected. Your privacy provider could be forced to publish your contact data in WHOIS or give it out to anyone who complains about your website, without due process. Why should a small business owner have to publicize her home address just to have a website?

We think your privacy should be protected, regardless of whether your website is personal or commercial, and your confidential info should not be revealed without due process. If you agree, please contact ICANN right away and demand your right to privacy and due process. Let them know you object to any release of info without a court order. There's no time to waste -- the close date for comments is July 7, 2015.

Visit our new site RespectOurPrivacy.com and we'll guide you through the process of calling or emailing ICANN. Thanks!

-- Team Namecheap

[Keya]

"respectourprivacy.com" ... their homepage = "Enter your phone number and email address"
Nudist beaches offer more privacy, I can assure you!

Who's behind it, anyway? ICANN or a scammer? (the Whois data is hidden, which isnt the case for icann.org or namecheap.com or any 'associated parties')
Interesting its script references a facebook app URL yet there's no "facebook" word or reference on the main page.

This devils advocate will politely decline heehee, thankyou!

[Dude]

What sort of legit business/company hides their WHOIS information? Makes them look dodgy.

[Julian]

What sort of legit business/company hides their WHOIS information? Makes them look dodgy.

A lot of companies as it reduces unsolicited bulk email / telephone contacts

[Dude]

All they need to do is set up an email specifically for WHOIS that aren't actually used. It's that simple. For example, in my own personal case, my WHOIS email is whois@somewhere.com, but I don't use that email. People can spam it all they want. I won't see it. They can see my real name and address through WHOIS, though, because I have nothing to hide. They can even email me direct from my website. But having zero WHOIS information about you sends a strong signal that you don't want to be held accountable for something, which is usually for a reason.

Second, hiding WHOIS information reduces your Google ranking, because Google can't verify who owns the domain.

Lastly, consider the fact that domains can be taken from you if your WHOIS is hidden, because there's zero proof that you actually own it. It's happened before.

[JackWebb]

"respectourprivacy.com" ... their homepage = "Enter your phone number and email address"
Nudist beaches offer more privacy, I can assure you!

Sounds like you know from personal experience..

Who's behind it, anyway? ICANN or a scammer? (the Whois data is hidden, which isnt the case for icann.org or namecheap.com or any 'associated parties')
Interesting its script references a facebook app URL yet there's no "facebook" word or reference on the main page.

Your debugging skills are not very good.. First, who is behind it? The NameCheap logo icon appears right in the tab, nobody is hiding anything here. No sneaky scamers or spamers or Lions and Tigers and Bears!

http://www.thedomains.com/2015/06/23/na ... strations/

Second, the "interesting" facbook app url points to the Facebook Share button right there for all to see (even you) right next to the tweet (twitter) button.

This devils advocate will politely decline heehee, thankyou!

You're welcome,
Jack

[JackWebb]

What sort of legit business/company hides their WHOIS information? Makes them look dodgy.

We're not talking about legit business/company here.. We're talking about ANYONE who owns a website of ANY kind! If your domain ends in .com it could be considered a commercial website since .com means .commercial. If you have a personal website with pictures of your wife and kids and when you go on vacation, you could be exposed. Even if your domain does not end in .com it could still be considered commercial if you have advertising of any kind on it. For instance google adsense or banner advertising. The list goes on..

What this boils down to is politics. Politicians are being exposed by bloggers ever day! One popular blogger is even dead under suspicious circumstances. They just want to know who their enemies are and to discourage people from blogging about them. They don't care if they put you or I in harms way.

[JackWebb]

All they need to do is set up an email specifically for WHOIS that aren't actually used. It's that simple. For example, in my own personal case, my WHOIS email is whois@somewhere.com, but I don't use that email. People can spam it all they want. I won't see it. They can see my real name and address through WHOIS, though, because I have nothing to hide. They can even email me direct from my website. But having zero WHOIS information about you sends a strong signal that you don't want to be held accountable for something, which is usually for a reason.

Second, hiding WHOIS information reduces your Google ranking, because Google can't verify who owns the domain.

Lastly, consider the fact that domains can be taken from you if your WHOIS is hidden, because there's zero proof that you actually own it. It's happened before.

I can tell from everything you said that you have never owned a domain in your life. Where do I start here? First of all, we are not talking about just emails. It's home address and phone numbers that will be exposed.

Second, Hiding whois information does not reduce your Google ranking. Who told you that? Third, You can't have zero whois information LOL!! Who, the heck is your registrar I'm really curious? When you register a domain you have to prove who you are regardless. You can pay for a proxy registration which is the issue here. It's those proxy registrations that will become obsolete. And that's what is at stake here, the proxies!

Hiding your information behind a proxy doesn't make you any less liable, all it does is hide your personally identifiable information from PUBLIC view, thats all! If you are doing something wrong or illegal, the registrar can easily hand over to a court of law your information. It doesn't make you immune from the law.

Lastly, consider the fact that domains can be taken from you if your WHOIS is hidden, because there's zero proof that you actually own it. It's happened before.

Dude.. You really don't know what you're talking about. My information is hidden yet NOBODY can take my domain(s) Why? Because they are mine and I can prove it without having to post my home address and home phone number all over the internet. There are crazy people in this world. Hiding behind a proxy is a good idea for everyone.

[DarkDragon]

There is already a law in Germany stating that you have to include a link on every of your sub pages directly to your "Impressum" with your address and two ways of electronic contact (no webform!) and the same for your privacy policy. This law is not only for websites, but also for apps, which means that our available screen space is lower than foreigner's screen space. So you have an advantage.

Why should I as a German be against this new law?

[JackWebb]

There is already a law in Germany stating that you have to include a link on every of your sub pages directly to your "Impressum" with your address and two ways of electronic contact (no webform!) and the same for your privacy policy. This law is not only for websites, but also for apps, which means that our available screen space is lower than foreigner's screen space. So you have an advantage.

Why should I as a German be against this new law?

Does this German law also apply to a personal website?

[DarkDragon]

There is already a law in Germany stating that you have to include a link on every of your sub pages directly to your "Impressum" with your address and two ways of electronic contact (no webform!) and the same for your privacy policy. This law is not only for websites, but also for apps, which means that our available screen space is lower than foreigner's screen space. So you have an advantage.

Why should I as a German be against this new law?

Does this German law also apply to a personal website?

Mostly. It's very unlikely to have a purely private website according to that law. E.g. a guestbook could be enough.

[TI-994A]

Hiding whois information does not reduce your Google ranking. ... You can't have zero whois information

You're absolutely right; you can't have zero whois information. But the whois information lists the proxy company as the registrant, and that's what affects SE rankings. Let me tell you why.

Mushrooming is one of the oldest and most effective SEO tricks. To curtail this unfair technique, most search engine algorithms include a duplicate-entry formula, whereby they try to determine if a set of similar websites belong to the same owner; this is done by obtaining the registrant information from ICANN's whois database. Proxy companies represent thousands of domain names, and the probability of multiple websites hosting similar content is almost a certainty. Since these SE algorithms have no way of knowing that these duplicate registrant entries are actually only proxy companies, the rankings of the associated websites are invariably downgraded as duplicates.

So, Dude is right. Employing these proxy services does in fact reduce SE rankings.

My information is hidden yet NOBODY can take my domain(s) Why? Because they are mine and I can prove it without having to post my home address and home phone number all over the internet. There are crazy people in this world. Hiding behind a proxy is a good idea for everyone.

Not quite. By using these proxy services, you're essentially relinquishing full ownership rights of the domain name to them.

The real owner of the domain name is whoever is listed in the ICANN database as the registrant; and when such a service is employed, it is invariably the proxy company. They not only assume ownership of the domain name, but also all the responsibilities and liabilities associated with it. The only legal standing that you maintain as the so-called real owner of the domain name is the internal contract that you have made with the proxy company. This contract would usually stipulate that the domain name would be legally transferred to the proxy company, but that you would continue to bear all responsibilities and liabilities associated with its use. However, in the case of any dispute, it is left to either party to legally uphold this contract in a civil court of law.

As far as ICANN is concerned, the legal owner of the domain name would categorically remain whoever is listed as the registrant in their database. PERIOD.

Notice how this differs from domain name registrars, who might sometimes list themselves as the technical or administrative contacts, but never the registrant.

There have been cases of domain names misappropriated by less-than-genuine proxy companies, and even lost due to their negligence and insolvency. And true to form, ICANN have time and again dismissed the claims of the so-called real owners, with nothing more than a perfunctory redirection to the courts.

So, Dude is right again. Besides an internal contract between you and the proxy company, which may or may not be upheld in a court of law, there is technically zero-proof that you actually own it.

Buyer beware!

[tj1010]

Can't you already mask this data with public record queries? I know Godaddy use to let you.

[TI-994A]

Can't you already mask this data with public record queries?

If you're referring to private registration, that service only provides alternate contact information; but the actual registrant name remains unchanged.

[JackWebb]

There is already a law in Germany stating that you have to include a link on every of your sub pages directly to your "Impressum" with your address and two ways of electronic contact (no webform!) and the same for your privacy policy. This law is not only for websites, but also for apps, which means that our available screen space is lower than foreigner's screen space. So you have an advantage.

Why should I as a German be against this new law?

Does this German law also apply to a personal website?

Mostly. It's very unlikely to have a purely private website according to that law. E.g. a guestbook could be enough.

Sorry for the late reply, I don't have time these days to spend as much time as I'd like on Purebasic.. Never the less.. I'm sorry about your German laws. I would protest loudly, and I would even protest on your behalf and do whatever I could to help your cause. Even if I do not live in your country. Why would I do that? Because the web has no borders, and what affects one of us affects all of us.


I understand what you mean by why should you care. After all you live in Germany and there really is not much you can do about corrupt american politics. That being said, we still have relative control of the Internet, the criminals (politicians) have not fully taken it from us yet. So we have to stick together and not allow nationalism to interfere with our future and freedom. All of us here on PureBasic are from around the globe. We are a mostly free and borderless society. Lets help each other to keep it that way.

So to answer your original question, that is why you should care. I hope that made sense..