Yesterday we covered reseller hosting, but you may have also noticed that there is something called a domain reseller.

Domain resellers are simply proxies to real registrars. They are not accredited by ICANN, but instead offer domains through a third party. Many small to medium-sized web hosts are domain resellers. Individuals can also resell domains, but if they don’t already have a large customer base on hand, making bank is a challenge.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with buying a name through a reseller, but you will pay a higher price. Resellers always mark prices up higher than a registrar and don’t always offer the same promotions. Buy domains directly from the registrar instead.

Photo | annaOMline

Continue reading: What is a domain reseller?

Domainers, take note: a new domain scam is making its rounds across the web. This time, the culprit is a Chinese domain registrar trying to recruit more customers.

The victim will usually receive a seemingly polite and well-meaning email from a “domain name register center” in China. The message will mention the recipient’s domain, then reveal that a local company is trying to register the .cn or .com.cn version.

We are Shanghai Foo Network Information Technology Co.,which is the domain name register center in China.I have something need to confirm with you.

We have received an application formally.one company named “Bar (China) Investment Co.” applies for the domain names(www.example.cn www.example.com.cn etc.),and the Internet keyword(example) on the internet September 17,2009.We need to know the opinion of your company because the domain names and keyword may relate to the copyright of brand name on internet.

we would like to get the affirmation of your company,please contact us by telephone or email as soon as possible.

Needless to say, the goal of the email is to con the cybersquatting-paroid into buying a Chinese domain from the registrar. If you get a message like this in your inbox, delete it and go on your merry way.

Source | Tech Republic

Photo | ZaNuDa

Continue reading: Watch out for the Chinese domain scam

Have a domain you know you will be keeping for a long time? Why renew it yearly when you could register it for an extended period of time and save money?

Many registrars offer discounts on long-term registrations. Usually the longer the period, the greater the discount. For instance, you might be able to get a 5% discount for two years, 10% for 5 years, and 15% for ten years.

By registering for an extended period, you can also ensure that you don’t forget to renew a name. I’ve done this more than a few times in the past with some of my more important domains and now generally renew them at least for two years at a time.

Photo | webvizion

Continue reading: Save money with long-term domain registrations

Despite all the security measures online payment systems provide, the reality is Internet shoppers are never 100% safe. Last week one of the largest domain registrars in the United States reported a security breach that affects some 573,928 customers.

The incident involved a piece of malicious code running on servers associated with affiliates of the registrar- companies who sell its domains under a different business name. The breach opened on March 12 of this year and once detected, was closed on June 8.

The good in all of this is that the registrar was honest enough to report the breach and has promised to compensate victims for any fraudulent account activity or identify theft that takes place. So far none has been reported.

Source | Credit FYI

Continue reading: Data breach occurs at registrar

Few Americans know that it is in fact illegal to to falsify personal details when registering a domain. With the enacting of the Truth in Domain Names Act in 2003, it became a crime to “knowingly and with the intent to defraud” provide false contact information to a domain registrar. Offenders are punishable by up to 5 years in prison and/or fines.

The law was enacted with the goal of protecting Internet users and to fight child pornography online. To help support their case, the bill’s sponsors gave the example of John Zuccarini, a notorious typosquatter who faced several lawsuits for his cyber crime. However, those behind the lawsuits were unsure if the name– obtained from the WHOIS database– was even accurate.

A number of organizations, including the ACLU, have criticized the law for being over ambiguous and violating civil liberties, most notably the right to privacy. While I think it is important to keep the Internet honest, I don’t see how this law is doing much good. It does nothing to impose regulation at the registrar level and is designed to be enforced after the fact. As in the case of Zuccarini, even if false contact data is provided, how can the authorities track down the real registrant?

According to one estimate, 10% of all domain registrations are under false names. That seems like an awfully high number. My guess is most of these people do not know about WHOIS privacy services and are simply trying to protect their identities. Perhaps this situation would be better handled by registrars. A much more effective deterrent would be to force registrars to verify domain contact data and then purge registrations if the details do not match up. But of course, nothing will ever be that easy.

Sources | JCIL & iBLIS

Continue reading: Should falsifying domain contact information be illegal?

On May 19, China experienced widespread Internet outages after hackers took down major DNS servers in a DoS (Denial of Service) attack. Chinese authorities now have the four hackers in custody following police investigations in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guandong provinces. The server in question was DNSPod, a Chinese DNS service provider and domain name registrar.

The motive for the attacks was apparently over a bitter rivalry between two illegal online gaming companies. DNSPod provides access to some of the competition’s gaming servers, and the suspects figured it was an easy way to redirect traffic to their own gaming sites. But the effects of the attacks were widespread, causing other servers to go down, including those of Baofeng, a popular Chinese video streaming service. Millions of users were denied service.

Nearly 300 million Internet users in China temporarily lost service, the worst outage since 2006, according to the the Chinese Ministry of Public Security. A DoS attack relies on unsecured computers to do its dirty work, infiltrating them and then using their Internet connections to send useless packets of data to a server until the server’s resources are completely used, denying real customers service.
Source: Top Tech News
Photo: Flickr

Continue reading: Chinese Police Detain Four Internet Hackers