Whoismind.com

[signupdamnit]

I thought I'd mention that these guys have started making WHOIS history available for free and it's getting picked up by Google. Their model appears to be to monetize by making people pay to get data removed. Currently it's $39.95 per domain to remove data for each domain. http://www.whoismind (noPRforscumbags) com/delete-history.html And they are also trying to sell WHOIS protection as well for $14.95 http://www.whoismind (noPRforscumbags) com/protect.html

I figured it was just a matter of time until some scumbag decided to use such a model to extort webmasters. There are already some complaints around the web:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/www-whoi...rnet-E1C1F.htm

You might want to double check that you have your WHOIS in order. I think they only have historical data for the last few months so you may as well not give them anything.

[Mark.Roy]

yeah, that's extortion ,
they are scumbags.,

tried contacting them previously to remove one of our clients old details , they asked money, client refused to pay and went on their website and clicked adsense ads 100 times everyday for couple of days.

i told client that whois data is public, he should have thought that before putting it in.

but this business model is somewhat like the mugshot sites model, extortion.
correct me if i am wrong.

expect to see more sites like this as they are preparing for apiwhois service .

[signupdamnit]

Originally Posted by Mark.Roy

yeah, that's extortion ,
they are scumbags.,

tried contacting them previously to remove one of our clients old details , they asked money, client refused to pay and went on their website and clicked adsense ads 100 times everyday for couple of days.

i told client that whois data is public, he should have thought that before putting it in.

but this business model is somewhat like the mugshot sites model, extortion.
correct me if i am wrong.

expect to see more sites like this as they are preparing for apiwhois service .

Man that sucks. I just have my phone number on one adult domain which mistakenly got put there. I had trouble placing an order for a domain and so I called in. Unknown to me the rep at the registrar changed the phone number to my personal one (from my business number) when we were trying to get it to go through. I had thought he was doing it just for purposes of the order but no the ass put it on the whois contact. Two months later I see my phone number popping up in Google for a gay domain! I changed the whois immediately but it looks like these assholes got it and it's in their history.

It looks like I will either have to change my personal phone number or try the "bury it in bullshit" technique where you spam false positives of the information you want to hide to thousands of websites in order to try to bury the real result in the rankings.

I'm not sure that it makes any sense to pay since they could start 12 other sites secretly and then make you pay $39.95 for each site. Once you pay it's just more incentive to put it out there somewhere else since they know you are willing to pay out to get it removed. It's like blackmail in other words.

[Fat Panda]

all this is preventable by setting up an anonymous llc

[shake]

Originally Posted by SAC

all this is preventable by setting up an anonymous llc

That's a good idea, you can also get a cheap VOIP phone forwarding number, mailbox rental etc. Lots of ways to make your whois info legal yet useless even if you're not using a whois privacy service.

[signupdamnit]

Originally Posted by SAC

all this is preventable by setting up an anonymous llc

But then you have to be very careful to never give out your personal numbers or addresses to anyone and always use the business information. I've only had problems for two reasons:

1. This incident with the registrar rep changing my phone number on the whois without asking.
2. A host suddenly submitting data to ARIN without asking or notifying me first.

All it takes is one screw up.

[CurrentlySober]

iamnotyours.com

[Tube Ace]

So you didn't use privacy Whois?

[nexcom28]

View Post Today, 08:06 PM
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Was the post above about poo?

[robwod]

It's also highly inaccurate, or appears to be woefully out of date.

I've checked several domains and they erroneously show as expired and actually available to register. LOL -- and two I tried I **know** have been renewed for at least 5 years without a single drop. Very inaccurate.

From what I've seen, it's no worse than any other public whois tool (you can search whois history for example for a nominal fee at domaintools.com which will show you historical whois before you paid for privacy, if you have.).

The difference is that this whoismind appears to be a very half-assed attempt to do anything accurate.

[Dirty F]

Uhm maybe a stupid question but aren't there 100 similar sites out there?

[signupdamnit]

Originally Posted by Tube Ace

So you didn't use privacy Whois?

No I use a business address and phone on whois. I got screwed in this case because I made a phone order after having problems ordering online and the rep put my personal phone number in for the whois. It's not a big deal for me but it just goes to show how easy it is to get fucked by these things with one mistake by anyone.

[signupdamnit]

Originally Posted by Dirty F

Uhm maybe a stupid question but aren't there 100 similar sites out there?

Sort of but I think they are the only ones doing free whois history and allowing Google to get at it. It's different if they have the whois history and make people pay or register to get it. But now the information is coming up in Google. With the other guys all you have to do is update the whois and wait for Google to update the listing and your info won't come up. But once they get your info in their history you're fucked unless you pay them (per domain) to remove it.

[signupdamnit]

Originally Posted by robwod

It's also highly inaccurate, or appears to be woefully out of date.

I've checked several domains and they erroneously show as expired and actually available to register. LOL -- and two I tried I **know** have been renewed for at least 5 years without a single drop. Very inaccurate.

From what I've seen, it's no worse than any other public whois tool (you can search whois history for example for a nominal fee at domaintools.com which will show you historical whois before you paid for privacy, if you have.).

The difference is that this whoismind appears to be a very half-assed attempt to do anything accurate.

Their whois history is getting spidered by Googlebot. So if you search your phone number it comes up on page one in Google. The others are at least making people register or pay so the information isn't coming up in the results on Google for your phone number.

[Dirty F]

Originally Posted by signupdamnit

Sort of but I think they are the only ones doing free whois history and allowing Google to get at it. It's different if they have the whois history and make people pay or register to get it. But now the information is coming up in Google. With the other guys all you have to do is update the whois and wait for Google to update the listing and your info won't come up. But once they get your info in their history you're fucked unless you pay them (per domain) to remove it.

Ah ok, now i get it.