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WhoisGuard Privacy Protection is now free

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Re: WhoisGuard Privacy Protection is now free

#61

Post by CydeWeys »

nomercy400 wrote: post #58
ve55 wrote: post #46

It's pretty absurd to require users to continually pay you money with threat of revealing all of their personal information publicly if they ever choose to stop paying you. I can't imagine many industries getting away with that except for registrars due to how the whois system has worked historically, but it's basically just extortion, keep paying us or you're doxxed. Whois privacy should be the default everywhere fo…

If only there were laws in place to protect your privacy. Oh wait.

For all the whinging about GDPR on here, I'm actually really liking its effects as a random netizen. And I'm not even an EU citizen!

Re: WhoisGuard Privacy Protection is now free

#62

Post by CydeWeys »

chris_overseas wrote: post #8

Can someone explain in more detail why they aren't able why they aren't able to cover certain TLDs (including several falling under GDPR in the EU)? Their FAQ says: "Due to registry restrictions, WhoisGuard cannot be used with .asia, .ca, .cn, .uk, .co.uk, .de, .eu, .in, .id, .me, .uk, .nu, .li, .ch, .fr, .sg, .com.sg, .org.uk, .us, .es, .com.es, .nom.es, .org.es, .com.au, .net.au, .paris, .vote, .voto, .xn--3ds443g,…

Every registry has some leeway to set its own policies, and especially ccTLD registries, which aren't even contracted parties with ICANN.

Most of those listed TLDs likely have requirements about who can register domains on that TLD, so they need that info for verification purposes. That doesn't mean that they're publishing it in WHOIS though; many are not.

Re: WhoisGuard Privacy Protection is now free

#64

Post by NamecheapCEO »

ve55 wrote: post #46

It's pretty absurd to require users to continually pay you money with threat of revealing all of their personal information publicly if they ever choose to stop paying you. I can't imagine many industries getting away with that except for registrars due to how the whois system has worked historically, but it's basically just extortion, keep paying us or you're doxxed. Whois privacy should be the default everywhere fo…

Completely agree but publishing accurate Whois information is an ICANN requirement for all registrars and not some gimmick set up by registrars to profit from their customers. If we failed to do this we would lose our accredidation. Whoisguard was set up to replace customer info but when we do that we are also exposed to all the legal issues that come with the territory which costs quite a bit to defend. We spend millions of dollars per year safeguarding user information and not simply turning off whoisguard without a proper legal order.

Re: WhoisGuard Privacy Protection is now free

#65

Post by scosman »

ve55 wrote: post #46

It's pretty absurd to require users to continually pay you money with threat of revealing all of their personal information publicly if they ever choose to stop paying you. I can't imagine many industries getting away with that except for registrars due to how the whois system has worked historically, but it's basically just extortion, keep paying us or you're doxxed. Whois privacy should be the default everywhere fo…

To be fair, ICANN required WHOIS info and registrars could be sued or lose registrar status if they didn't provide it. ICANN only recently said they wouldn't sue non-compliant registrars.

Re: WhoisGuard Privacy Protection is now free

#66

Post by Kiro »

StavrosK wrote: post #50
topogios wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe, as a first shot, they decided to favour near-instant implementation over usability by simply setting the price for an existing product to $0 and use the existing checkout flow.

Maybe, but it would have been equally as instant to just set all domains as "WhoisGuard purchased until the year 3000" in the database, and much more user-friendly.

No, I don't want WhoisGuard.

Re: WhoisGuard Privacy Protection is now free

#67

Post by NamecheapCEO »

joering2 wrote: post #36
ausjke wrote: post #35

Dreamhost has this since forever for free, along with many others, why is this even a HN post, seems more like a late-arrived commercial ads to me.

Their table to see how they stand up against competitors is hilarious! So many free privacy providers since ever like Dreamhost, Namesilo, BrandShelter, Marcaria (some TLDs), but yet you look at that table and you think "wow they are the only one". I take it as a deceiving advertising.

So you get to choose who we perceive as our competitors now? We have a different view of them that doesn't match with yours. That's ok.

Re: WhoisGuard Privacy Protection is now free

#68

Post by corobo »

frockington wrote: post #57
corobo wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realise it's not even in the same ball park really but the US health service works in that way from an outsider's perspective "Keep paying us or die"

That is how services work. You pay money, you receive a service. If all tax payers in other countries stopped paying money, people would "die"

Indeed, that was my point. The parent couldn't imagine many industries getting away with it, my counter example was insurance - In my comment's example health insurance but it fits most insurance-based services

Re: WhoisGuard Privacy Protection is now free

#69

Post by federicoponzi »

Kiro wrote: post #66
StavrosK wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe, but it would have been equally as instant to just set all domains as "WhoisGuard purchased until the year 3000" in the database, and much more user-friendly.

No, I don't want WhoisGuard.

Why not?

Re: WhoisGuard Privacy Protection is now free

#70

Post by corobo »

federicoponzi wrote: post #69
Kiro wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I don't want WhoisGuard.

Why not?

If you're registering as a business rather than an individual it looks dodgy to have a whois privacy record instead of your business details. Not necessarily a deal breaker but definitely a single red flag
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