Domains by Proxy
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Domains by Proxy is an Internet company owned by Go Daddy founder Bob Parsons. It offers domain privacy services through partner domain registrars such as Go Daddy and Wild West Domains.
Subscribers list Domains by Proxy as their administrative and technical contacts in the Internet's WHOIS database, thereby delegating responsibility for managing unsolicited contacts from third parties and keeping the domains owners personal information safe from the public eye.
The Domains by Proxy service is not a legal obligation, however, and registrant's personal information can be released in some cases, such as a legal subpoena or cease and desist,[1][2] or for other reasons as deemed appropriate by DBP per its Domain Name Proxy Agreement [3] section 4, without limited requirements to notify the registrant about such disclosures (see section 5):
4. DBP's rights to deny, suspend, terminate service and to disclose your personal information You understand and agree that DBP has the absolute right and power, in its sole discretion and without any liability to You whatsoever, to either: i. Close Your account (which means You then become the Registrant of the domain name registration); ii. Reveal Your name and personal information that You provided to DBP when: A. Required by law, in the good faith belief that such action is necessary in order to conform to the edicts of the law; B. To comply with a legal process served upon DBP; or C. In order to comply with ICANN rules, policies or procedures iii. Resolve any and all third party claims, whether threatened or made, arising out of Your use of a domain name registered by DBP on Your behalf; [...]
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Political usage [edit]
In the run-up to the 2012 United States presidential primaries, numerous domain names with derogatory expressions have been registered through Domains by Proxy by both Republicans and Democrats.[4]
Domains by Proxy have allegedly been a target of the internet organisation Anonymous due to perceived malicious business activities including inducements to join their service, claims of privacy that are not fulfilled and the lowering of Google PageRank of the sites they link to.[citation needed]
Domains by Proxy has also been used by http://www.stopgillardscarbontax.com,[5] a project of the conservative Menzies House website http://www.menzieshouse.com.au/.
WeAskAmerica.com,[6] a new polling agency in 2011, is registered through Domains By Proxy.[7] The agency's polls have been cited by various Republicans[8][9] as well as being incorporated into the poll composites of The New York Times FiveThirtyEight blog.[10] It is unclear why this website is registered with Domains by Proxy because We Ask America is a division of Xpress Professional Service, Inc.[11] the website of which is not registered through Domains By Proxy. Furthermore, the information that Domains By Proxy would hide seems to be available on the site itself. Xpress Professional Services offers private polling services as well as video and audio production specifically for commercial political content.
Use by fraudsters [edit]
Controversially, Domains By Proxy is also used by a number of organisations that target the elderly vulnerable community by sending threatening psychic letters, such as zodiac-services.com, and fake drug companies such as the now-defunct uk-online-pharmacy.com.[12] They were also implicated in the death of Amy Pain in 2009.[13]
See also [edit]
Footnotes [edit]
- ^ Private domains not so private? | CNET News.com
- ^ DBP Proxy Agreement
- ^ DBP Proxy Agreement
- ^ Rucker, P. and Farnam, T.W. In Campaign 2012, Web sites are the new real estate. The Washington Post, 18 October 2011.
- ^ Godaddy.com [1]
- ^ WeAskAmerica.com[2]
- ^ WeAskAmerica.com WHOIS[3]
- ^ Ron Paul Website Citation[4]
- ^ National Review Bachmann Analysis[5]
- ^ NYT 538 Blog[6]
- ^ Xpress Professional Service, Inc.[7]
- ^ Dr. Bob [8]
- ^ Daily Mail, 29th April 2009 [9]
