I consider this to be offensive.Do you?

wtf.. photo id? Never heard of anything like that before. I'm used to fax a lot of stuff to my bookies, but nothing like that...

How could that be considered offensive? Is your face really THAT offensive that you don't want to show it?

Anyway, years ago most companies required some type of proof that the credit card is really yours. A scan of your license or the credit card itself. Over the years, this requirement has fallen the wayside probably due to both customer demand and improved online security. I'm sure there are still many companies that do require some proof though, I know and use a few myself. If this is an issue with you, I'm sure you can find another registrar.

yeah, exactly !
So you agree with me too Jensen ... they are totally over the line with this request ... and I don't imagine how the fuck are they still in business with these completely idiot requests

C'mon Sly, it's not about my face, my girls like me
It's about them asking the moon on a plate for a lousy domain name !

huh photo id? never heard of that

I don't know if offensive is the word I would use, but it would definately piss me off that I have to jump through hoops to register a fucking domain.

They probably verify ids at random for security purposes/ fraud prevention... I can understand it is inconvenient but not really that big of a deal imho... now if they did it on my next purchase......

I def wouldnt jump on a message board calling them idiots, makes you look unprofessional, again imo

They manage .fm domains and cost a premium to get

I wouldnt send in your photo ID. There were talking about that on the news yesterday in relation to identity theft.

Just curious, what country are you from?

Not only is it offensive its against Visa, MC and Amex merchant rules - its also illegal in some states in the US. If you refuse to provide the ID the merchant cannot refuse you the sale or they can lose their account with a complaint from you. Also 12 states in the US including DC it is illegal to record any personal info about you for the transaction including things like your phone number or home address

edited: here's the states its illegal in:
California
Delaware
Georgia
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Washington, DC
Wisconsin

It is also illegal for vendors to charge you a fee to use a credit card like a lot of places do. They can't charge you more for paying by credit card. They also cannot say you have to spend a minimum amount to use a credit card either. So if there is a sign saying you have to charge at least $5.00 in a store call Visa, MC and Amex and let them know.

That's great information. Just like with anything else some companies are going to do what they want to do. Most people would probably comply with the request but it's not allowed then I'd not bother. Buy the domain else where. Sounds shady.

they dont want your face, they want a photo id... like a driver's license to verify your identity... it's not rare...

He didn't call them idiots, he asked for opinions.

That sounds a bit excessive IMHO. What if the customer in question does not have a fax machine? Many individuals, without a fax machine, buy domain names.

Another thing does not add up. What are they going to do with a photo ID? If you buy from a retail store, I can understand that they want to verify that your name on the credit card is your real name: a photo ID proves that you are the name on the card because the clerk can see you and compare with your photo. But here, it's over the internet. They don't have the person in front of them to verify anything.

Does not make much sense.

If a company did that to me, I'd just move to one of their competitors.

yeah, totally pointless,i would just move on...

fuck that. don't send a photo I.D.

Not offensive at all..seems like many companies are forced to start doing it

It appears, from the excerpt of the email you posted, the domain name is still available for registration - if so, the best thing to do is take your business elsewhere if you've not done so already.

I've never heard of any registrar demanding photo ID for a ~$10 domain registration ...

With that said, there appears to be a recent rash of credit card fraud worse than normal ... all those stolen credit numbers/data one's been hearing about lately is having a cascading effect that will be felt for quite awhile ... most of the card numbers and related data are still valid ...

And even when a credit card is cancelled it's not really ... while there are different levels/types of blocks issuing banks can utilize, it's still no guarantee...

A personal AMEX card of mine was used fraudulently about a month ago for a small purchase - to make a long story short, about two months *after that card was canceled*, another fraudulent charge showed up! ...

That bogus charge involved a domain name registrar reseller - they were very apologilic and immediately credited it back without forcing me to get AMEX involved - and from what I gather talking with folks at the domain registar reseller is they got hit badly lately.

Credit issuers really seem not to care much even though they say they do ... and thus merchants, especially small ones, are left to fend for themselves - and after being "scammed" badly, often resorting to desperate measures that make 3rd-party scrubbers seem lenient in comparison.

Rambling on ... point is Dotster shouldn't be demanding photo ID ... but on the other hand, with the rash of fraud lately, what are they supposed to do when a transaction appears questionable - the obvious choice is to reject it, but over-scrubbing causes much lost sales and upset customers ... they're between a rock and hard place and thus likely their reasoning in demanding a photo ID ...

Harsher *criminal* penalities for credit card fraud along with laws requiring merchants to share more of the processing risk with on-line merchants would go a long way, but I digress.

Ron