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Whois Abused For Publicity?

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Whois data has been talked about quite a bit over the last few months.

While there maybe valid reasons to hide who owns a domain via a proxy service of some kind outright abuse of the whois objects is a different matter.

While checking a domain earlier this evening I came across the oddest whois output I’d ever seen:

Domain name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com

Registrant Contact:
xxxxxxxxxxxx.Com, POWERFUL WEB HOSTING – 20GB Disc – 500GB Tr
NA NA (NA)
NA
Fax:
HOST UNLIMITED DOMAINS *FREE*
1548 N Technology Way, #D13
Orem, UT 84097
US

Administrative Contact:
NA
INC – ONLY 6.50 PER MONTH xxxxxxxxxxxx.Com (info@xxxxxxxxxxx)
xxxxxxxxx
Fax: xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxx.Com, POWERFUL WEB HOSTING – 20GB Disc – 500GB Tr
HOST UNLIMITED DOMAINS *FREE*
Orem, UT 84097
US

Technical Contact:
NA
INC – ONLY 6.50 PER MONTH xxxxx.Com (whois@xxxxx.com)
xxxxxxxxxxx
Fax: xxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxx.Com, POWERFUL WEB HOSTING – 20GB Disc – 500GB Tr
HOST UNLIMITED DOMAINS *FREE*
Orem, UT 84097
US

I’ve removed the company name from the whois output, but you get the idea.

Is this even allowed under the ICANN rules?

About Michele Neylon

Michele is founder and managing director of Irish domain registrar and hosting company Blacknight. Michele has been deeply involved in domain and internet policy discussions for more than a decade.
He also co-hosts the Technology.ie podcast.

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Comments

  1. Danny Cork says

    Nope this isn’t allowed. If contact information isn’t correct ICANN or the registrar can make the domain available for the public. I could be wrong but I believe I complaint will kill this domain.

  2. Michele Neylon says

    Danny
    I contacted the registrar in question and they will be in touch with the registrant. It seems the domain was transferred from a previous registrar with that data!

    Michele