That isn't me
July 1, 2011 10:13 AM Subscribe
Domain swiper using my old content to make their spam site look like it's actually mine?
A number of years ago, a domain of mine lapsed and was bought up by some SEO place. Today, I discovered that instead of it looking like a random SEO place, they have cleverly disguised it by making it look like it is MY SITE, using old cached random content and images and etc. from a million years ago. So that it looks like an author site, except that instead of selling books, I'm selling viagara. Whois has obscured the real contact info, so I sent a Strongly Worded Letter to the domain registrar/host. But is there anything else I can do? Do I actually have to hire a lawyer to get these people to stop using my name, image, and old content?
A number of years ago, a domain of mine lapsed and was bought up by some SEO place. Today, I discovered that instead of it looking like a random SEO place, they have cleverly disguised it by making it look like it is MY SITE, using old cached random content and images and etc. from a million years ago. So that it looks like an author site, except that instead of selling books, I'm selling viagara. Whois has obscured the real contact info, so I sent a Strongly Worded Letter to the domain registrar/host. But is there anything else I can do? Do I actually have to hire a lawyer to get these people to stop using my name, image, and old content?
Best answer: Not that this is an answer, but my own expired domain has gotten caught up in some sordid Japanese Black Hat SEO business. All WHOIS data is protected, but adjacent IP addresses contain either Japanese sites (appearing to be link farms) or English Spam Blogs.
It can often be difficult to identify the actual hosting provider, but you can check the registered owner of the IP block the IP address of the site serving your squatted domain here: ARIN. Type the IP address into the search box at the top right. You should be able to get an ABUSE contact from the results and email them with your complaint. As far as that getting results, YMMV.
posted by rocketpup at 11:41 AM on July 1, 2011
It can often be difficult to identify the actual hosting provider, but you can check the registered owner of the IP block the IP address of the site serving your squatted domain here: ARIN. Type the IP address into the search box at the top right. You should be able to get an ABUSE contact from the results and email them with your complaint. As far as that getting results, YMMV.
posted by rocketpup at 11:41 AM on July 1, 2011
Response by poster: Thank you both for your answers!
posted by mothershock at 12:53 PM on July 1, 2011
posted by mothershock at 12:53 PM on July 1, 2011
Best answer: If it uses a somewhat known hosting provider, you may have luck checking the domain using: whoishostingthis.com. If you are unable to get a takedown, you can at least report it using the Google spam reporter.
posted by thebestsophist at 5:40 PM on July 1, 2011
posted by thebestsophist at 5:40 PM on July 1, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks so much -- DCMA template/ARIN info/Google spam reporter link all helped to resolve the problem!
posted by mothershock at 1:09 PM on July 7, 2011
posted by mothershock at 1:09 PM on July 7, 2011
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posted by reptile at 10:23 AM on July 1, 2011