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Yep. A few years ago I had a server on DigitalOcean and stopped using it. I forgot to remove the A record for it on a sub-domain connected to my main site and

by nickjj 6y ago

Yep. A few years ago I had a server on DigitalOcean and stopped using it. I forgot to remove the A record for it on a sub-domain connected to my main site and suddenly a sub-domain on my main site was serving ~400,000 pirated PDFs because the old server's IP address was in control by someone else. I wrote about it here: https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/a-recycled-ip-address-caused-me-to-pirate-390000-books-by-accident https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/a-recycled-ip-address-caused-... And it was discussed on HN back then: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17020944 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17020944 Then another DNS related issue happened 6 months ago where someone thought I owned a domain they used to have: https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/at-first-i-thought-someone-was-trying-to-scam-me-out-of-my-domain-name https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/at-first-i-thought-someone-wa... In this 2nd case someone else forgot to update an old domain redirect and I ended up being the recipient.

dheera 6y ago
Although in OP's case someone wanted to buy the domain, so maybe don't update your DNS records, in case your subdomain becomes worth a lot of cash? I mean hell, create a bunch of random bogus A records too just in case any of them wins the lottery ticket. A records are free, after all.
- pontifier 6y ago
  I think you have it backwards. OP didn't own the domain, just inherited the IP address through their host. The actual domain owner is losing out on the sale.
  - Enginerrrd 6y ago
    Yup. You could however try to middle-man the sale if you could find the actual domain owner.
- mistrial9 6y ago
  Is an open commons to be treated like this by civilized people? Why throw garbage in the streets? It makes no sense or else is motivated by reaction and negativity. It seems either desperate, or hostile, or so casual as to be literally stupid.
  - dheera 6y ago
    I see I have it backwards as another comment noted. Why is it hostile though? A records are under your own domain. Creating a bunch of bogus A records for sale is the digital equivalent of a garage sale on your front lawn. You're not actually squatting any TLDs, which would be the digital equivalent of a real estate ghost town.
tonyarkles 6y ago
I was in a similar situation for a while. It seems Google's finally updated their index and dropped all of the PDFs, but for a while there it was pretty tough to find the actual content on my (admittedly mediocre) site.

by nickjj 6y ago

dheera 6y ago

Although in OP's case someone wanted to buy the domain, so maybe don't update your DNS records, in case your subdomain becomes worth a lot of cash? I mean hell, create a bunch of random bogus A records too just in case any of them wins the lottery ticket. A records are free, after all.

pontifier 6y ago
I think you have it backwards. OP didn't own the domain, just inherited the IP address through their host. The actual domain owner is losing out on the sale.
- Enginerrrd 6y ago
  Yup. You could however try to middle-man the sale if you could find the actual domain owner.
mistrial9 6y ago
Is an open commons to be treated like this by civilized people? Why throw garbage in the streets? It makes no sense or else is motivated by reaction and negativity. It seems either desperate, or hostile, or so casual as to be literally stupid.
- dheera 6y ago
  I see I have it backwards as another comment noted. Why is it hostile though? A records are under your own domain. Creating a bunch of bogus A records for sale is the digital equivalent of a garage sale on your front lawn. You're not actually squatting any TLDs, which would be the digital equivalent of a real estate ghost town.

tonyarkles 6y ago

I was in a similar situation for a while. It seems Google's finally updated their index and dropped all of the PDFs, but for a while there it was pretty tough to find the actual content on my (admittedly mediocre) site.