NameDepot.com, Inc., a start-up unheard of until recently, has filed a trademark application for a technology called “RealRegistrant” to, “to obtain information about the owner or registrant of a domain name when the WHOIS information is obscured by a domain name WHOIS Privacy or Proxy service”

For those too lazy to read, the technology supposedly has the ability to bypass WHOIS privacy services and find the legitimate owner of a domain. The company claims trademark owners can use its service to help gain control of infringing names, but whether or not it works is another question.

Most WHOIS privacy services only yield to search warrants from law enforcement agencies or similar requests. I really don’t see how any technology can legally get around a domain registration proxy service.

Continue reading: Start-up company wants to be your domain name private investigator

For years, WHOIS privacy services have acted as a proxy for registrants, using the service’s contact data in place of the registrant’s. Currently customers still own the names even when using a proxy, but an ICANN policy draft could change things:

One central clarification: if a Registered Name Holder licenses the use of a domain name to a third party, a licensee, the third party is not the Registered Name Holder of record (or “registrant”). This advisory also describes under what conditions that a Registered Name Holder is to identify the licensee and to whom.

The full version of the draft can be found here (PDF). Interested parties have until July 9 to comment on the proposal.

If the policy change goes through, WHOIS privacy users may no longer own their domains. This would make proxy registration much less attractive. I doubt it would totally kill the industry, but expect it to have some major repercussions.

Source | Domainnamewire.com

Continue reading: Changes at ICANN could put an end to domain privacy services

There are a number of WHOIS privacy services out there. One popular competitor in the market is WhoisGuard. Offered free for a year at Namecheap or for a nominal fee, how is it different from other WHOIS proxy services?

Similar services include Domain Privacy at Namesco and Domains by Proxy at Go Daddy. Despite the differences in terminology, each service is exactly the same thing. There are no differences in the depth of privacy offered or the the methods used. Each company simply replaces your WHOIS contact data with theirs and in the event you are contacted using the data, lets you know. Your name, address, real email, and phone number are always kept hidden.

Even if a registrar offers a service like WhoisGuard for free, I would look at the yearly price of the service because generally it’s only no-cost for a year. At only £4.99 ($7.50 USD) per year, Namesco’s Domain Privacy is the cheapest I’ve found.

Continue reading: How is WhoisGuard different from other WHOIS privacy services?

WHOIS privacy protection is a great way to keep your personal information safe from solicitors. In an effort to keep up with the latest domain trends, ICANN is currently conducting a study on the usage of the service and its implications.

Preliminary results reveal that some 15-25% of domain registrations in the WHOIS database have owner contact data that is limited in some way. This is from a survey of 2,400 TLDs.

ICANN wants to know more about private registrations for several reasons. Most notably, it is concerned that cyber criminals could be using privacy services to evade authorities. The agency also wants to evaluate the misuse of contact data in the WHOIS database.

Source | PC World
Photo | MaxMilli0n

Continue reading: ICANN conducts study on WHOIS privacy