How to avoid Register.com

August 11, 2006 3:27 PM

How do I avoid Register.com?

I registered a couple domain names with Register.com, and was mortified to discover that my name address and phone number were made public to anyone who wanted to look it up based on the URL. My emails asking them to retract the info were ignored, and I called them and got a telemarketer who said that I could get privacy for a fee of 12 bucks a year. They also "auto-renewed" one of the domains, even though I don't remember requesting that. One domain is set to expire at the end of this month and I'm getting telemarketing calls twice a day. I really want to switch. Anyone aware of the privacy policies of other domain registrars? Can I switch all of my domains, even though some aren't ready to renew? And, now that the cat's out of the bag (some search engines list the WhoIs info) how can I get my info off the net without moving and changing my phone?

posted by Blingo to computers & internet (17 comments total)

netrillium.com will not list your details as a matter of course and for no extra charge. Used them for various projects over the years and would recommend.
posted by fire&wings at 3:30 PM on August 11, 2006

most registrars allow you to transfer a domain over from another to them. That said, displaying your personal information in the registration is the "normal" way to do things, and adding domain privacy is always an ad on. At go daddy though it's much cheaper. In fact looking at their page now it says that you get privacy for free when you register or transfer three domains.

What most people do is just put fake info in their registration.
posted by delmoi at 3:31 PM on August 11, 2006

As the owner of a domain you are supposedly obligated to provide valid contact information so that if someone has a problem with your domain (spam, hacking, other network abuse) they know who to contact. In practice they never seem to check this.

I recommend using Namecheap as your registrar, their premium "hide my name" service is $2.88 a year per domain and is free for the first year (including for domain transfers). They'll periodically change your listed e-mail address (which forwards to your real address) to foil spammers, as often as daily.
posted by kindall at 3:40 PM on August 11, 2006

What most people do is just put fake info in their registration.

Which could (in theory) result in your losing your domain (according to the rules), although I suspect hardly anyone is punished to that level if the details don't look fake.
posted by wackybrit at 3:41 PM on August 11, 2006

Point the mail to a post office box, and the phone to a voicemail, if you really feel the need to do that; don't fake the info. It's there so we can get ahold of you when your domain starts spewing out spam, etc.

If you can't be contacted, you'll probably get blocked.
posted by baylink at 3:48 PM on August 11, 2006

Just bear in mind that if you want to transfer a domain away from Register.com, you need to do it while it's still active. Don't wait for your renewal to come up and then try to do it. They will force you to renew and THEN let you transfer. More expensive fo sho cuz dey be dix.
posted by scarabic at 4:18 PM on August 11, 2006

I recently switched over to 1&1. They offer private domain registration, for .com .net .org .us .name and .info, for only $5.99/year.
posted by the biscuit man at 4:38 PM on August 11, 2006

You misunderstood how domain registration works. Your info should be public. You can pay more, as others have said, to hide the info

I recently switched over to 1&1.

Don't switch to 1&1. They're horrid. Search for them on ask.metafilter and read the stories. Be afraid.
posted by justgary at 4:50 PM on August 11, 2006

1&1 are indeed horrid and have been ripped to shreds on MeFi by numerous users--do a search.

Register.com indeed sucks.

Godaddy.net isn't perfect but they're a far better company than the above to and I've moved all my domains there and use the privacy option (extra $) for those that need it.
posted by dobbs at 4:56 PM on August 11, 2006

I've had good luck with both DomainDiscover/Tierranet and DirectNIC (they're the folks in New Orleans that Interdictor helped keep on the air last hurricane season? He moved about 10 miles from me...)
posted by baylink at 5:50 PM on August 11, 2006

nearlyfreespeech.net has a privacy option for about $6 a year per domain, after trying at least half a dozen other "cheap" hosting/registrar sites I find them to be the best hosting for the least amount of money.
posted by psychobum at 6:22 PM on August 11, 2006

Godaddy's CEO advocates the use of torture... I don't think giving those people money is ethical.

I've had very good luck with Namecheap. Their basic domain registration is $8.88/year, and they have a WhoisGuard system for an extra five bucks a year. Basically, they appear as the registrar of record to casual WHOIS lookups. And they provide you with an anonymized email forward service. People can still contact you if there are problems with your domain, but it's under your control. You can set the email to change automatically every so often, or you can just generate a new contact email manually whenever you want.

Their web interface is REALLY good. I like it very much.

Joker.com is also an excellent, Tier-1 registrar, but I'm not sure if they offer any kind of privacy guard option. If they do, they have better infrastructure than Namecheap does. Their web interface isn't as nice, but they're much better-provisioned. If you're using website redirects, I've never seen Joker's fail, where Namecheap's has been a bit squirrely on occasion.
posted by Malor at 6:59 PM on August 11, 2006

I recommend Dreamhost....under $10 per domain and you can host unlimited domains in one package.

Good luck with Register.com. It was a nightmare for me when I tried to get away from them. I was on the phone with them every day for two weeks. Finally they let me go.
posted by livinginmonrovia at 9:04 PM on August 11, 2006

Malor: "Godaddy's CEO..."

...saw fit to use the front page of his company's website -- top and center -- to promote his personal political views. That's crappy whether you agree with him or not, and it's the entire reason I left GoDaddy for Dotster. Not because of his opinion, but the way he chose to express it.
posted by CrayDrygu at 10:05 PM on August 11, 2006

...saw fit to use the front page of his company's website -- top and center -- to promote his personal political views. That's crappy whether you agree with him or not

How is that crappy? It's his website, and he can do with it whatever the heck he wants. I don't agree with his views, but I fail to understand how that's "crappy', unless you mean "a crappy public relations move" as opposed to crappy as in "morally questionable" or something similar.


To echo previous posters - you shouldnt' have been mortified to find your details public. They're supposed to be.
posted by twiggy at 10:44 PM on August 11, 2006

I'd have to recommend Dotster, too... I made the move in 2002 to avoid a slew of problems with Network Solutions. So far I don't have any reason to hate Dotster... everything has been smooth.
posted by zek at 11:48 PM on August 11, 2006

Go get a UPS Store box. Register all of your domains to that address. Voila, your home information is no longer available to the web.

Your domains can very easily get yanked if you don't have accurate WHOIS info. A company I worked for lost a domain that way, and one of my web hosting customers was almost a victim. Some other internet trash decided that they didn't like the content of the website, so they filed complaints to the registrar about alleged false WHOIS information.

I use Dotster. They'll let you synchronize domain expirations.
posted by drstein at 12:49 PM on August 14, 2006