Re: [ga] Domain Name Registration Process Compromised

["kidsearch" <kidsearch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This has been going on for a long time. I have had better results using a
script that checks for me called whoi ultra from analogx.com. Its free. but
only do it when I am ready to register the domain name. I also have no
problem like this when using enom.com for queries.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Danny Younger" <dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <ga@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 11:06 AM
Subject: [ga] Domain Name Registration Process Compromised


> [excerpt]
>
> Whois Hijacking My Domain Research?
> By Larry Seltzer
> July 19, 2006
>
> One of the most popular subjects readers contact me on
> is domain theft and abuse, and more messages came in
> after my recent story on "domain tasting."
>
> If you thought that practice was distasteful, you
> haven't seen what I found next. It involves a
> domain-tasting firm. But that's not what's most
> interesting.
>
> It all started with a message from a reader. She was
> planning to put a Web site up and needed to register a
> domain name.
>
> She chose to use her first and last names for the
> domain (just as I own larryseltzer.com) and checked it
> on at least one service for availability.
>
> She went back in a day or two to register it and, lo
> and behold, it had just been registered to an outfit
> named Chesterton Holdings.
>
> The great Panix.com domain theft brought domain
> security issues to the forefront. Click here to read
> more.
>
> It's obvious that Chesterton Holdings is a domain
> squatter. The domain was not just registered, there
> was a Web page up on it.
>
> The page was covered with the sorts of ads you usually
> see on squatted pages, and the ads were all syndicated
> through information.com.
>
> Several days later, Chesterton released the domain,
> probably having had few or no hits on it. Chesterton's
> own Web page contains the following statement:
>
> "We acquire domain names through an automated process
> rather than by any process that would intentionally
> infringe on any person's rights. If you have any
> questions about a domain, please submit your query to
> us below. It is our policy to transfer a domain name
> to any entity that, in our reasonable opinion, has a
> legitimate claim. We will promptly transfer a domain
> name to you if you can show us that you have a
> legitimate claim."
>
>
> So the question remains: How did Chesterton Holdings
> get hold of the reader's domain name and register it
> before she did? Is it part of this mysterious
> "automated process"?
>
> The main site she had used to check for domain
> availability was the CNet Domain Search page.
>
> This is a "meta-search" page, meaning that when you
> enter a domain name in it, the page checks several
> other services for domain availability, consolidates
> the reports and delivers them back to the user.
>
> The actual search is performed by search.com, also a
> CNet property. The reader had gotten results for
> web.com, dotFM, e-nic, and APlus.net.
>
>
>
> Click to Enlarge
> I decided to run some tests, so I picked three names
> out of the air and checked them with the CNet Domain
> Search page including myfuzzycat.com and
> lickmynose.com.
>
> I let the matter go and about 30 hours later I checked
> with a separate whois service and determined that the
> domains belonged to Chesterton Holdings.
>
> The same ad-based Web pages were up on them. Bingo.
> Click on the thumbnail image nearby to see the page.
>
> http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1991365,00.asp
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
>
>
> -- 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.10.2/393 - Release Date: 7/19/06
>
>