View Full Version : expired domain name pt 2
By now I would guess we've all run into expired domain names, taken over by completely unrelated sites. I just came across something pretty scary - and a new tactic I fear...
And expired domain name was taken over, the new 'owner' retrieved an old copy of the domain's original site from one of the archive places, then the new 'owner' redoes the site with the archive copy of the old site, changing links to the new 'target sites' (porn in this case)..
Up until I saw this, I thought the fact every web site is archived, and we can go back in 'time' to visit old copies, was a cool thing.. Now, :wow: combined with the capturing of expired domain names, it is pretty scary..
Yes, clear case of ignoring copyrights, but these folks probably don't care about that..
:hatoff:
Iain Sherwood
06-13-2004, 05:01 AM
Once domain names are expired there's usually a list of businesses trying to usurp them - usually antithetic to their original intent. For good or ill, it's most often the ILL whoi snatch (bad pun) them away fron the original theme.
Bleeach!
Andrew Lenz
06-13-2004, 02:48 PM
It is absolutely unbelievable what level the scum of the earth will stoop to.
The Internet is still the Wild West as far as laws go. Unfortunately, we aren't armed with the equivalent of guns or lynching ropes.
The best we can do is track down (up) the food chain and notify the service provider(s) upstream from the offenders. If we sit back and do nothing, they get away with it. Sometimes they get away with it anyway, but we have to try.
Hopefully, laws will catch up with the wishes of the general populous if the politicians aren't too scared.
Andrew
Scary indeed - the idea that expired domain names are taken over is old news of course, but this new thing - taking the domain name, and making an exact copy of the old web site, with small changes to catch the unsuspecting.. Just incredible.
In one really bad case I know the old domain owner was no longer interested in the domain or the site so he willingly let it go - knowing someone would probably take the name - but he wasn't worried. What got him was the copy of the web site, and the use of the old domain name now for porn spam too - His current email (different domain) is being used for return address, and it is on the copy of his old site - he has a major problem - thousands of complaints coming in to him each day.. He is going to have to abandon his other domain probably, because he can't handle the volume of complaints. (It seems the people doing this, in his case, are in Poland, and he has been unable to get any responses to request for help)
I guess the only solution is to do the old cheap register thing, and lock up the name for 50 years or so..
Thomas Grotrian
06-14-2004, 09:15 AM
If they are in Poland, they are now (since May 1st) part of the EU and therefore should be subject to the EU's new regulations on spamming etc. He may be able to get something done about it.
dagdaj
06-14-2004, 09:39 AM
Interesting. The domain bit and copyrights are pretty straightforward (in the US under the DMCA), but the content thing is really interesting.
Definitely copyright violations coming into play. Not sure though, unless there's an implied or explicit copyright of the content. Some lawyer could make some money on it I'd think.
Course, if it was a good porn being linked to, I'd have to give them a pass.
Love2Drum
06-14-2004, 12:30 PM
I sometimes wonder if people can take over an active domain name. Back in March we saw a small celtic band in a Vegas hotel and enjoyed them, so we bought their CD. On their CD was their website, which the singer had also given me verbally and written on the back of a business card. All three matched. Yet when I went to the domain name, it was a porn site. I always wondered if he knew that, but short of driving back to Vegas, I have no way of contacting him. The business card he wrote the domain on was mine.
Drew McPheeters
06-14-2004, 12:36 PM
Originally posted by Love2Drum:
I sometimes wonder if people can take over an active domain name. Back in March we saw a small celtic band in a Vegas hotel and enjoyed them, so we bought their CD. On their CD was their website, which the singer had also given me verbally and written on the back of a business card. All three matched. Yet when I went to the domain name, it was a porn site. I always wondered if he knew that, but short of driving back to Vegas, I have no way of contacting him. The business card he wrote the domain on was mine. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas....
:wink:
Love2Drum
06-14-2004, 12:40 PM
Originally posted by Drew McPheeters:
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas....
:wink: [/QB]It certainly does.
I took one look at the lady that popped up and what she had to offer and quietly said, "no thanks". :bleh:
We'll see you in San Diego Drew...
CalumII
06-15-2004, 02:16 PM
Hmmph...I ran across this little piece of filth on another piping site...a former pipemaker's old address is now in their grubby little hands:
pool.com
ugh ugh ugh.
CalumII
06-16-2004, 11:05 AM
Read the page. What they do is let you, an aspiring cybersquatter, register a domainname you'd like to take over. Then if the domain owner forgets his renewal, they immediately snap it up for the aspiring cybersquatter.
So, say you have a grudge against, say, Piper and Drummer. You go to this website, register it, and if Andrew forgets his registration, you get to put up a site saying 'Piper and Drummer smells!' or whatever message you want to put across. Or you could just hold the domain ransom - can you imagine if someone got hold of something like yahoo.com, or bbc.co.uk, or whatever?
Nasty business. And totally legal.
Cheers,
Calum
Love2Drum
06-16-2004, 11:56 AM
I bet Yahoo and BBC have renewed for the like, the next 100 years! :lol:
Andrew Lenz
06-16-2004, 08:21 PM
Originally posted by CalumII:
So, say you have a grudge against, say, Piper and Drummer. You go to this website, register it, and if Andrew [B.] forgets his registration, you get to put up a site saying 'Piper and Drummer smells!'I've got bobdunsire.com on my waiting list . . .
just think how much money I could get for that one!
:wink:
Andrew
Ah, Andrew! I didn't know YOU was faster than I!
:mad:
And then I thought :idea: if I can't have this one, I'll take vatican.va and build up a sales for french letters.... :humm: :D
dagdaj
06-17-2004, 11:34 AM
Originally posted by Love2Drum:
I bet Yahoo and BBC have renewed for the like, the next 100 years! :lol: You'd think that, but not too long ago a certain software giant allowed one of their domains to expire. Yes indeed, hotmail.com expired in about 98-2000. Can't remember exactly when.
Some 'guy' in Arkansas or something called up Network Solutions and gave them his credit card number and renewed it for another year. Microsoft tried to give him a bunch of software, but he didn't really care. Big Linux guy if I recall.
Kind of funny.
Fairly easy to "hijack" a domain or at least hijack the DNS. Not that you could keep it long. More difficult to get into DNS poisoning and some other serious gunk that only the l33t hax0rs would know how to do.
CalumII
06-18-2004, 11:58 AM
You can't just hand over a bunch of money and renew for the nest x years...it has to be done for short-term periods with the ability to renew, at least in the generic top-level domains. This is a good thing, really.
To be fair, it's not like people don't know the rules; if your website is your business, you are responsible for protecting it.
Cheers,
Calum