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But I don't see any proof that GoDaddy is the registrant of that domain, they're just the registrar. I don't see any evidence of front-running in this case. I s

But I don't see any proof that GoDaddy is the registrant of that domain, they're just the registrar. I don't see any evidence of front-running in this case. I see it more as coincidence if anything else.

scrollaway 6y ago
They've been doing it for years, it's a pretty well known thing at this point which is long past the point of needing new evidence. PS: Use gandi.net, both for search and registration.
- bhartzer 6y ago
  In this case, felons.io, there is no registrant listed, even on who.godaddy.com. So how can you definitively say that GoDaddy saw that search from the OP and registered the domain? I'm not saying they didn't do it, but I base my opinions on facts, not speculation or "they've been doing it for years". I'm just not seeing any evidence in the WHOIS record that GoDaddy registered that domain--it could have been one of their customers.
  - codegeek 6y ago
    It happens way too many times with Godaddy so even though it is still speculation, but seems very likely now that they do this stuff. I have seen this complain from people a few times in the past and they all mention GoDaddy.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- owlninja 6y ago
  Can you link some prior evidence? I can believe it but is there proof? Could some other data have led another party to registering OP's domain idea?
  - scrollaway 6y ago
    C'mon.. it's one google search away. https://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/registrars/msg05077.html https://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/registrars/msg... Lots of instances of it, I won't bother listing all of it here as I'm on a phone.
    - eloff 6y ago
      That link seemingly has nothing to do with the topic at hand.
    - bhartzer 6y ago
      That ICANN thread is about domain transfers. Has nothing to do with the topic at hand, which the OP is claiming 'front-running' but GoDaddy.
  - zerd 6y ago
    Couple of examples: https://amp.reddit.com/r/web_design/comments/60o6j8/godaddy_is_domain_poaching_becareful/ https://amp.reddit.com/r/web_design/comments/60o6j8/godaddy_... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2326790 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2326790
- _verandaguy 6y ago
  Seconding Gandi. I spent the past year transferring my domains over (as registrations lapsed with Route53, which is a Gandi frontend with fewer features). Their interface is very clean, their business model is no-nonsense, and I dig the managed DNSSEC.
  - systemvoltage 6y ago
    https://domains.google https://domains.google is the best I found. Also, namecheap’s beast mode if you want to check hundreds of domains at once.
    - AdmiralAsshat 6y ago
      Google Domains did the same thing to me a few years ago. There's a reason my personal domain is nothingofvalue.org instead of .com. Because when I went to register the .com originally and backed out at the last minute to give myself time to setup a PO Box (didn't like the ICANN publicly displaying my mailing address), I came back two days later and noticed that someone had registered the .com domain.
      - dlubarov 6y ago
        Did you type nothingofvalue.com in the URL bar? If so, your ISP (assuming you use their DNS) might have sold that data to a squatter. You could be right that it's Google, but I doubt they would risk a scandal to make a few bucks like that.
        AdmiralAsshat 6y ago
        No, only through Google Domains. And like I said, I got decently far along in the process before I stopped, due to privacy concerns. That probably flagged it as "of interest" to someone who then promptly squatted on it. > You could be right that it's Google, but I doubt they would risk a scandal to make a few bucks like that. I think this HN thread has shown that it seems to be something of an open secret among domain registrars, so I'm not sure it would necessarily be a "scandal", particular given how hard it would be for me to prove it.
- eloff 6y ago
  I want to see the evidence before I believe that. I've seen nothing but speculation in this thread.
  - warent 6y ago
    Agreed. This is really bizarre behavior for HN. This thread reads like a paranoid Reddit post, and people who are requesting evidence are being downvoted into oblivion... Because it's more fashionable to jump on the "godaddy is a cartoon supervillain" bandwagon?
    - gravitas 6y ago
      HN has been talking about GoDaddy front-running domains since 2012. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4362478 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4362478
      - eloff 6y ago
        Talking != proof. Some people at GoDaddy seem to have been busted for doing this independently, and were likely fired. Is it still happening since then? Nothing here would give you a clue.
      - jgowdy 6y ago
        This is a complete lie and total slander of GoDaddy. https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d... The whois information is masked, because that's what we do to protect customer privacy. https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-whois-records-no-more-co https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-whois-records-no-more-co... It's registered to someone in New York, not to GoDaddy. Registrant Organization: Registrant State/Province: New York Registrant Country: US
        gravitas 6y ago
        > This is a complete lie and total slander of GoDaddy Respectfully, I stated an objective fact and nothing more, backed by an evidentiary link. As the other reply and yours seemed to have missed the context to which I was replying, "This is really bizarre behavior for HN" which was being contested by my reply - in hindsight I should have quoted it to be blatantly obvious to speed readers.
- mekster 6y ago
  When you recommend something, please mention what is good as well else I can't tell if it's a shill account or not.
  - mratzloff 6y ago
    How about "doesn't scam you"? Gandi is widely respected. I've registered all of my domains there for over a decade.
- jgowdy 6y ago
  This is a lie and total slander of GoDaddy. https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d... The whois information is masked, because that's what we do to protect customer privacy. https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-whois-records-no-more-co https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-whois-records-no-more-co... It's registered to someone in New York, not to GoDaddy. Registrant Organization: Registrant State/Province: New York Registrant Country: US
andylynch 6y ago
It would be easy to test - query for some random domains on their site and see what happens. Which seems close to the story here. (As a bonus - securities regulators can easily request business records, and will raid offices if they need to - it could be argued a more energetic approach like this in the tech space would not be a bad thing and I would expect travel in this direction as economies continue to rely on further on IT and if companies pull stunts like this it will be deserved).
ocdtrekkie 6y ago
Happens way too often to be coincidence and can occur on domains nobody else would want. I use GoDaddy and I'm happy with their services, but I never search for a domain before I buy it.
jgowdy 6y ago
That's because this is a lie and total slander of GoDaddy. https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d... The whois information is masked, because that's what we do to protect customer privacy. https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-whois-records-no-more-co https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-whois-records-no-more-co... It's registered to someone in New York, not to GoDaddy. Registrant Organization: Registrant State/Province: New York Registrant Country: US

scrollaway 6y ago

They've been doing it for years, it's a pretty well known thing at this point which is long past the point of needing new evidence. PS: Use gandi.net, both for search and registration.

bhartzer 6y ago
In this case, felons.io, there is no registrant listed, even on who.godaddy.com. So how can you definitively say that GoDaddy saw that search from the OP and registered the domain? I'm not saying they didn't do it, but I base my opinions on facts, not speculation or "they've been doing it for years". I'm just not seeing any evidence in the WHOIS record that GoDaddy registered that domain--it could have been one of their customers.
- codegeek 6y ago
  It happens way too many times with Godaddy so even though it is still speculation, but seems very likely now that they do this stuff. I have seen this complain from people a few times in the past and they all mention GoDaddy.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
owlninja 6y ago
Can you link some prior evidence? I can believe it but is there proof? Could some other data have led another party to registering OP's domain idea?
- scrollaway 6y ago
  C'mon.. it's one google search away. https://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/registrars/msg05077.html https://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/registrars/msg... Lots of instances of it, I won't bother listing all of it here as I'm on a phone.
  - eloff 6y ago
    That link seemingly has nothing to do with the topic at hand.
  - bhartzer 6y ago
    That ICANN thread is about domain transfers. Has nothing to do with the topic at hand, which the OP is claiming 'front-running' but GoDaddy.
- zerd 6y ago
  Couple of examples: https://amp.reddit.com/r/web_design/comments/60o6j8/godaddy_is_domain_poaching_becareful/ https://amp.reddit.com/r/web_design/comments/60o6j8/godaddy_... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2326790 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2326790
_verandaguy 6y ago
Seconding Gandi. I spent the past year transferring my domains over (as registrations lapsed with Route53, which is a Gandi frontend with fewer features). Their interface is very clean, their business model is no-nonsense, and I dig the managed DNSSEC.
- systemvoltage 6y ago
  https://domains.google https://domains.google is the best I found. Also, namecheap’s beast mode if you want to check hundreds of domains at once.
  - AdmiralAsshat 6y ago
    Google Domains did the same thing to me a few years ago. There's a reason my personal domain is nothingofvalue.org instead of .com. Because when I went to register the .com originally and backed out at the last minute to give myself time to setup a PO Box (didn't like the ICANN publicly displaying my mailing address), I came back two days later and noticed that someone had registered the .com domain.
    - dlubarov 6y ago
      Did you type nothingofvalue.com in the URL bar? If so, your ISP (assuming you use their DNS) might have sold that data to a squatter. You could be right that it's Google, but I doubt they would risk a scandal to make a few bucks like that.
      - AdmiralAsshat 6y ago
        No, only through Google Domains. And like I said, I got decently far along in the process before I stopped, due to privacy concerns. That probably flagged it as "of interest" to someone who then promptly squatted on it. > You could be right that it's Google, but I doubt they would risk a scandal to make a few bucks like that. I think this HN thread has shown that it seems to be something of an open secret among domain registrars, so I'm not sure it would necessarily be a "scandal", particular given how hard it would be for me to prove it.
eloff 6y ago
I want to see the evidence before I believe that. I've seen nothing but speculation in this thread.
- warent 6y ago
  Agreed. This is really bizarre behavior for HN. This thread reads like a paranoid Reddit post, and people who are requesting evidence are being downvoted into oblivion... Because it's more fashionable to jump on the "godaddy is a cartoon supervillain" bandwagon?
  - gravitas 6y ago
    HN has been talking about GoDaddy front-running domains since 2012. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4362478 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4362478
    - eloff 6y ago
      Talking != proof. Some people at GoDaddy seem to have been busted for doing this independently, and were likely fired. Is it still happening since then? Nothing here would give you a clue.
    - jgowdy 6y ago
      This is a complete lie and total slander of GoDaddy. https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d... The whois information is masked, because that's what we do to protect customer privacy. https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-whois-records-no-more-co https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-whois-records-no-more-co... It's registered to someone in New York, not to GoDaddy. Registrant Organization: Registrant State/Province: New York Registrant Country: US
      - gravitas 6y ago
        > This is a complete lie and total slander of GoDaddy Respectfully, I stated an objective fact and nothing more, backed by an evidentiary link. As the other reply and yours seemed to have missed the context to which I was replying, "This is really bizarre behavior for HN" which was being contested by my reply - in hindsight I should have quoted it to be blatantly obvious to speed readers.
mekster 6y ago
When you recommend something, please mention what is good as well else I can't tell if it's a shill account or not.
- mratzloff 6y ago
  How about "doesn't scam you"? Gandi is widely respected. I've registered all of my domains there for over a decade.
jgowdy 6y ago
This is a lie and total slander of GoDaddy. https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d... The whois information is masked, because that's what we do to protect customer privacy. https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-whois-records-no-more-co https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-whois-records-no-more-co... It's registered to someone in New York, not to GoDaddy. Registrant Organization: Registrant State/Province: New York Registrant Country: US

andylynch 6y ago

It would be easy to test - query for some random domains on their site and see what happens. Which seems close to the story here. (As a bonus - securities regulators can easily request business records, and will raid offices if they need to - it could be argued a more energetic approach like this in the tech space would not be a bad thing and I would expect travel in this direction as economies continue to rely on further on IT and if companies pull stunts like this it will be deserved).

ocdtrekkie 6y ago

Happens way too often to be coincidence and can occur on domains nobody else would want. I use GoDaddy and I'm happy with their services, but I never search for a domain before I buy it.

jgowdy 6y ago

That's because this is a lie and total slander of GoDaddy. https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-still-not-frontrunning-d... The whois information is masked, because that's what we do to protect customer privacy. https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-whois-records-no-more-co https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-whois-records-no-more-co... It's registered to someone in New York, not to GoDaddy. Registrant Organization: Registrant State/Province: New York Registrant Country: US