When registering a .com name should a Private Registration be used?

Becc

I was going to register a .com name, and the website where names can be registered gives the option for $6.99/year of having a "Private Registration".

It states...

Private Registration keeps your personal information out of the public database, protecting you against spam, fraud, stalkers and worse

I suppose I can just use a free e-mail account for the registration so I'm not too worried about spam.

Is there any real chance of fraud by not having a private registration? I had a .com registered a few years ago and it wasn't a private registration so my details were on the public database and I'm not aware of anything having happened...

So I was just wondering what most here usually do, or is the private registration a bit like taking out insurance on a toaster i.e. cheap, but a waste of money

H2G2

As far as I am concerned there is only two potential problems and they aren’t really problems:
1. Spam – potential to get extra spam to sales@yourdomain info@yourdomain and the like. Easy to solve, just don’t create those aliases.
2. Your details- Someone can use a whois server to find out the ownership details (name, address, etc.) of the domain. I solve this by not using my home address.
Personally I think the privacy thing isn’t worth the extra cash per year… Its almost double the yearly registration.

cgarvey

Make sure you trust the company doing the private registration for you, as they are in control of the ownership. If they go bust you could have some fun getting your domain back. Or if they go bad ("when good private registration companies go bad .. 3"), you're in very troubled waters. Not a problem, I presume, for most big companies, but just be aware of it.

Cabaal

I use domainproxy, very handy for hiding my details. works through godaddy.com
costs like $3 a year or something like that per domain

JohnK

Cabaal wrote:

I use domainproxy, very handy for hiding my details. works through godaddy.com
costs like $3 a year or something like that per domain

I use them too as I just dont want people looking up my name or home address if they know my domain.

philologos

Register365.ie allows you to edit the details which are shown on the domain after you register it.

JohnK

Jakkass wrote:

Register365.ie allows you to edit the details which are shown on the domain after you register it.

All registrars allow that but the ICANN terms of registration require you to provide valid contact details. If someone does a lookup and the details are blatantly invalid (ie. address of 123 fake st., etc) then they can be reported as such. I'm not sure what the result of that would be but I would assume that the domain could be taken from you.

Becc

Cabaal wrote:

I use domainproxy, very handy for hiding my details. works through godaddy.com
costs like $3 a year or something like that per domain

Is this the site?
http://domainsbyproxy.com/

JohnK wrote:

I use them too as I just dont want people looking up my name or home address if they know my domain.

Is there any more chance of fraud (or anything else) by having your name and address in the public register compared to having your name and address in the phone book?

JohnK

Becc wrote:

Is this the site?
http://domainsbyproxy.com/

Thats the crowd that GoDaddy use alright.

Becc wrote:

Is there any more chance of fraud (or anything else) by having your name and address in the public register compared to having your name and address in the phone book?

Probably no more chance but I'm not in the phonebook either . Also, by choice I dont associate my name with most of my domains so I dont want people do be able to do a lookup. In 99.9999% of cases there would be no problems but lets face it, there are some real freaks out there and I would prefer they not know where I live :eek: