Domains by Proxy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Domains by Proxy (DBP) 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. However, a registrant's personal information can be released in some cases, such as a legal subpoena or cease and desist legal process,[1][2] or for other reasons as deemed appropriate by DBP per its Domain Name Proxy Agreement.[2] Over 9,400,000 domain names currently use the Domains by Proxy service.[3]

Political usage

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 organization 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/.

As of 2013 it is also being used by http://stopthesethings.com/, a campaign opposing wind turbines in the United Kingdom, which has unclear funding and organization as reported by The Guardian.[6]

Use by fraudsters

Controversially, Domains By Proxy is also used by a number of organizations such as Clearance.co that target vulnerable individuals by sending threatening psychic letters, such as zodiac-services.com, and fake drug companies such as the now-defunct uk-online-pharmacy.com.[7]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Private domains not so private? | CNET News.com
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Domains By Proxy Domain Proxy Agreement
  3. ↑ "Whois Organization Name: DOMAINS BY PROXY, LLC". Whoisology. Retrieved 10 January 2014. 
  4. ↑ Rucker, P. and Farnam, T.W. In Campaign 2012, Web sites are the new real estate. The Washington Post, 18 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Godaddy.com
  6. ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/11/windfarm-industry-coalition-turbine-noise
  7. ↑ Dr. Bob

External links

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