What is Digg?84 Comments
- joaob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+35@treelovinhippie
godaddy.com has been criticized for the same thing in the past. - digid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18When using command line 'whois' you don't go through all these 3rd party snipers but straight to the authority of each TLD. If you want to use the web use something like http://www.internic.net/whois.html
- penneyisok, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16@treelovinhippie and joaob
I know for a fact godaddy does that. I had it happen to me a few times, a couple days after I did a search for some domains they where taken by squatters. Lucky they weren't kept for long and I eventually got the them.
Use google or just search in your browser if your not ready to purchase the domain. - steven401, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/1918/3234234wx4.png
Surprisingly cheap. - janmc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Maybe we should all go look up bogus addresses - it could cost the hijackers some cash ;)
- joaob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12add whois.sc (aka domaintools.com) and godaddy.com (whois.sc provided search) to the thiefs list. this has not only been verified by me but also by other webmasters at GFY (one of the biggest webmaster forums).
- hartshorne, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13I built Instant Domain Search. I'm not stealing your names. I make money through affiliates when someone registers, so it stings to see people accusing me of stealing from my customers.
Though it's possible someone has their finger in WHOIS (hehe), I would not rule out coincidence. One million names are “tasted” every day (according to GoDaddy’s CEO). Mike mentioned he'd used Name Intelligence to do some searches. Name Intelligence suggests alternative names, and supplies a lot of registrars with their results.
I’m sure that Maltuzi has a way of generating suggestions like this, or may even use some service to do it for them. Since they can register as many names as they want for free, I bet they just go nuts with the suggestion tool — the same kind of tool Mike was using. This increases the chance that some of the names they registered on spec were the same that he found — especially if they’re good.
I posted more details about my service in Mike's comments. Send me an email, beau@hartshornesoftware.com, if you have any questions. - 4NDr01D, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12cybersquatting must end
- pumpedvideo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Never happened to me, but a lot of people claim they have the same experience
- ruscoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10It would be very difficult to make a case for it being illegal. You're willingly entering information into somebody's website and they have every right to log it, even if they don't disclose that fact.
- 1310nm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I have noticed the same with GoDaddy in the past.
- balibones, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11I was thinking it could be a coincidence before reading your blog post, but it sounds like you had some pretty random domains hijacked just hours after you researched their availability. My tinfoil hat is always on, and I'm wary of anything on the web that's "FREE". What about those free keyword research tools? You don't think they're collecting data and building a list of competitive terms to bid on with PPC arbitrage or something like that? Common… Someone like Shoemoney (he has a ranking checker tool) is too smart to pass that one up.
- HawaiiSEO, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Yikes! - I that legal?
If it's not illegal, it should be. - id34, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This is disgraceful - should be in a privacy policy on the sites.
- techiemac, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Well there is a simple solution for this... run poisoned domain searches. The strategy is as follows:
1. Input a randomized, but possibly somewhat believable domain name (try to make it really randomized so you don't accidentally steal a potentially useful domain name) . Random letters with vowels randomly spaced may actually work here. Possibly also make sure the domain name is 30->50 characters. The only purpose of this is to prevent taking an actual useful domain name. Of course if you want, those pesky spam subjects may work since the wonderful spammers (sarcasm) out there have already done the work of "somewhat" randomizing for you.
2. Wait a day or two but no more than 5 days.
3. Go to the [random domain name].org/.com/.net a couple of times to increase the hit count (but DO NOT DoS the site here... the goal it to covertly increase the hit count). It helps if you visit from multiple IP addresses here so it looks like the domain name is popular. Remember this is not a DoS attack. Those are unethical and no matter how tempting it may be, don't do it!
4. Domain name thief will pay to register the site.
You see the way this works is that domain name thief actually uses a rule that allows a domain name to be registered but "returned" in 5 days. They set up a site with a bunch or random ads and if the domain name proves popular (i.e. an increased hit count from differing IP addresses) then they actually pay to register it. This is simply a business of economics. If they end up registering 10,000 junk domain names, then they won't be able to afford staying in business.
The best way to do this would be some sort of automated script that shares the domain names to other ip addresses. Just a thought - arjie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6It happened to me too. I checked to see if a domain was available and it was taken when I tried to register it a couple of days after.
- bonexaw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@4NDr01D
I agree
@joaob
Ths issue isn't who is accused of it, but who is actually causing it. When you do a search for a domain online, regardless of where or with who, that search / query, almost envitably ends up being passed to other registrars. For example, if you're looking for "myspecialdomain.com" and the website your on first queries itself (as many do), it will say well I don't have that registered, perhaps x registrar does, perhaps y does, etc etc. So where whether seach at godaddy or Network Solutions, or som random place, many other registrars will know you made this search. Blaming ONE just because you did the search there is not necessarily resonable as it will have contacted other registrars.
As a rule to thumb, only search for domains you are ready to commit and buy right then. - lessaid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I use http://gandi.net and never had problem with
- phineous, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5They don't have to pay unless they keep it beyond five days. It's called domain name kiting and takes advantage of ICANN's rule called "add grace period".
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2006/7/24/104310/356
http://domainnamekiting.com/ - JimmyDushku, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4godaddy did this to me last year. They registered my name jimmydushku.com after I searched it on their site. A year later, it was available. They're bastards!
- robdavy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Happened to me very recently (this week).
I wanted albertastables.com (as we're setting up the Alberta Stables Association). I checked it with a couple of registrars (domainpeople.com and godaddy.com I think). It was available.
The next day I go to register it, and it's taken, by a company with a weird name. It was registered the day I searched for it.
I just checked it now, and it's now owned by:
Registrant:
Wan-Fu China, Ltd. (ALBERTASTABLES-COM-DOM)
P.O.Box CB-11901
Nassau,
BS
+31.847486135
+31.847486135
business@wanfuchina.com
But, the weird bit is:
Record last updated on 10-Feb-2007.
Record expires on 10-Feb-2008.
Record created on 10-Feb-2007.
10 Feb is today. Does that mean they've now decided to keep it, and this renewed/transfered it to another company?
Also, the registrar is "Registrar: BELGIUMDOMAINS, LLC", one of the companies mentioned in the eweek article linked from the submitted article. - Brajeshwar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I think they do, I searched for a domain which was more of my family name related and it was not available the next week. Why would anybody want that domain? But I was offered to buy back that same domain at a price.
- pairanoyd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I've known about this for years. I researched a domain name that was I *know* wasn't taken due to it being very unique.
I went to a registration site and went through their routines to purchase the name.
I entered the name and it told me to wait while it checked to see if it was available. It was. Price? $15
Before I could complete the process something came up and I had to leave work early.
When I returned the next day I went back online to the same place. I obviously had to restart the process but
this time when I entered the name it told me it wasn't available, that it was taken and had been registered the day before.
Not only did they take my .com but they took the .org and .net versions of it too.
*****.. According to the registration info it was some ***** in New York. When I visited MY stolen domain I was greeted with one of those ***** portal/search pages and a notice that the domain was for sale. I contacted the ***** and got some snotty ***** who told me I could buy the domain for the low, low price of $10,000. What a bargain.
"***** YOU, YOU ***** THIEVES!" I told them I was going to find them and kick their asses for stealing MY domain, the ***** laughed at me and told me "good luck searching the islands." I assume they were in the Bahamas as that's a fairly common hang out for criminal ***** stains like them.
***** like that should be illegal. - jcaino, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5all these people using these websites to see if a domain is available...
i just use whois from the command line.
i'm normally at a command line 80% of my time at work, so it takes much longer to go to the browser.
and i know very quickly whether the domain is available, when it expires, whether transfer is locked, etc... - dicroce, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I have on 2 occasions had domains I searched for snatched up by the next day. I am convinced that this practice is a LOT more common than everyone thinks....
- Phil246, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3or are running cygwin on windows, thats another way.
Theres also the whois lookup tool by sysinternals which can do it - wh0r4cl3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yup ive seen it happen first hand. After five days I was able to buy the domain.
- livestradamus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Any relation to Eliza Dushku?
- neoncricket, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'm no conspiracy theorist, but I can confirm this from my personal experience as well. Bastards.
- fety, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yeah she is his cousin and they get it on. Hell I would!
moron, that's like asking a John Smith if he's related to Elliot Smith. - MoneyShot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4The practice is called "kiting": http://texturbation.com/blog/2006/11/05/july-domain-kiting-hall-of-shame/
- h0dg3s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@robdavy quit going to the domain as they will see that as potential traffic and may decide to hold onto it longer.
I've done a lot of reading about that company. The process usually goes like this.
They'll notice that somebody is interested in a domain and register it. Then they ask about $900 for the domain.
When it's soon to expire they'll transfer it to a different registrar so they get another 5 days for free.
If they see that somebody is interested in it, they may buy the domain.
If you DO NOT contact them chances are they will drop it after 10-15 days.
They seem to be somewhat associated with Godaddy although Godaddy denies this. - iXam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Or make a firefox plugin that does all this thing a couple of times a day.
- angelnero, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah, avoid using startlogic.com's tool for domain search. I just started a business and performed a number of domain searches for it, probably about 5 in total. All turned out available, the next day 4 out of the 5 domains are now owned by nameking.com.
Coincidence? No. Squatters.... definitely. - ejstacey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Really, if you have shell (telnet/ssh) access to any sort of *nix machine, it's a fair bet you can run "whois domainname.com".
That *should* look up the domain name record and give you the whois info about it. It will tell you if the domain doesn't exist (meaning it's available).
This method is generally much safer than trusting a 3rd-party website. Then don't do a search with a website until you're ready to buy. - aristoworks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21) Wow.. I always suspected but never thought GoDaddy would resort to such tactics :( That sucks.. I use them for everything.
2) I make it a habit to almost always snag up domains as I'm searching for them.. If I have a certain domain in mind I'm prepared to drop the $6~ to snag it. - nazadus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@treelovinhippie:
Check out nodaddy.com - xdoute, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2exactly my thoughts. i think that it is every diggers duty to do this to 5 different domain search sites a week. i will definately start.
- h0dg3s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@robdavy
http://www.domibot.info/
sorry I didn't think to put that in my last post, but that's some more information about the company that grabbed your domain.
"Domibot is also known as Unasi Inc., Domaincar, Wang Lee Domains, Pertshire Marketing, Ltd, and Click Consulting Ltd."
They usually use Belgiumdomains. - ramsinks.com, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2happened to me
ubercomputer.com - RichGC, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I had a similar experience with GoDaddy, I was using their search for .EU domains when they were first publicly launched.
I found one I liked but foolishly thought I would snooze on it, 5 hours later it was registered through GoDaddy, and to this day its just a parking space.
Now it could just of been a coincidence, and me just being paranoid, so I think the moral of the story is have your wallet near by and don't hesitate.
But what would be nice is for them to fix the grace period loop hole that allows such cybersquatters to exist without serious amounts of cash. - blankoboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This just happened to me 2 days ago when checking the availability of a domain for my wife. I checked, it was available and so I call the wife to get her approval. Within 10-15 minutes of having done the whois the and then going to register it, the domain was taken and dated with the same registration date as the day I checked....taken by these bastards: domainsite.com.
I was beside myself with fury but I should have known better and registered it right away. Now I can simply wait the 5-6 days out and hope they opt not to keep it after the tasting is up.
Has anyone ever got a domain from a the taster if they decide to keep it? If so, how much did you have to shell out (Very much a case by case sorta thing)? - salinemist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Sorry, I took it from you.
-Scott Uber - masgrada, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yea, I've searched for my full name, and the next time. Gone! I know there's nobody with my name in this world.
- Hagane, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This has happened to me couple times...
I use domaintools.com - atbnet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I use this for my whois needs http://www.dslreports.com/whois
I did some searching last night on GoDaddy for a few toy domains. Registered one of them, we'll see if they take the others I looked for.
Here's a domain I used to own:
Domain Name: ATBNET.NET
Registrar: GO DADDY SOFTWARE, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Bastards! - xdoute, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This isn't a plug because I have no affiliation with them except as a customer, but I have never had any trouble of this sort with 000domains.com. They charge more than the other places, but they have NEVER stolen a domain out from under me, and I often search for domains and wait a few weeks to buy them. So, if you don't have a console handy to run your domain availability queries, go there. You don't have to buy there but you can use their whois interface without fear of having your desired domain squatted...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've heard about this from some of my customers. When a customer searches for a domain through my site, other registrars are queried as well. Some of those sell those lists of searches to squatters who in turn play the kiting game.
I always tell new customers, if you find an available name you like, Register it NOW. Waiting only increases the chance it won't be there tomorrow. Besides, at 6-7-8 bucks a YEAR, wtf cares if you don't end up using it. Big deal. Burger King has more expensive meals than that. - passingnotes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2far and away the best lookup tool i've seen is www.pcnames.com, though most sites are locked by default during registration so this whole thing fascinates me...
- shamitpatel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1here is another instance where godaddy is trying to do the same...
http://www.marketinglocus.com/home/blog.php?id=4 -
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