3 ms·

Gandi (https://www.gandi.net/ https://www.gandi.net/) is quite well-known for having free private domain registration.

by anonova 12y ago

JoshTriplett 12y ago
And unlike many such services, they still list you as the owner of the domain; they just mask the email/address/phone information.
- anonova 12y ago
  I'm not sure if this is a positive or negative comment, but I'll explain why they do that. There are two main ways to mask domain name whois information: 1) go through a proxy service, i.e., a company buys the domain under their name and gives you control, or 2) effectively use another entity's contact information with the exception of name, which is what Gandi does. a) is rather risky to both parties. You do not own the domain, but another entity does. If you somehow lose the domain name or the entity holding the name goes under, you won't be able to get it back because it technically never belonged to you. The holder is also now legally responsible for the domain name. b) is a much safer route with the constraint that your name must be attached to the domain name. This makes it so you always remain responsible for and the registrant of the domain name. It is yours.
  - JoshTriplett 12y ago
    > I'm not sure if this is a positive or negative comment Very much positive, for exactly the reasons you specified.
RexRollman 12y ago
Love Gandi. I can't say if their customer service is good, though, because I have yet to have any issues.
davidcollantes 12y ago
Could you provide the exact link for this? I have looked to no avail.
- anonova 12y ago
  It's an included service when you use them to manage your domain names. https://www.gandi.net/domain/whois/ https://www.gandi.net/domain/whois/ http://wiki.gandi.net/en/domains/private-registration http://wiki.gandi.net/en/domains/private-registration http://wiki.gandi.net/en/contacts/privatewhois http://wiki.gandi.net/en/contacts/privatewhois From the home page, it's at the bottom of the green box under "Every domain name includes".
  - ldng 12y ago
    Well, the subtlety is that only applies to domain registered for "personal", not "business", use. Gandi support used to be the best. Now that domain isn't they core and only business, support quality is falling. Fast. I have an old account. And some point they migrated my old account. And now my domain is flagged as a business type domain, which it isn't. It is lock as they changed it themselves. When I've contacted them, they did not want to fix it. They messed up, denies it and won't fix it. So, for me, not so great customer support ... Anyway, I'm moving away, domain by domain.
    - soulshake 12y ago
      Hello from Gandi. The scenario you're describing sounds like a result of a change we made in 2006 when we added a new domain contact type. If so, we _can_ do something about it. Either way, we're not in the habit of messing up and refusing to fix it. If you have a ticket number from your previous exchange, we could go from there, or you can email me directly (aj@).

Gandi (https://www.gandi.net/ https://www.gandi.net/) is quite well-known for having free private domain registration.

by anonova 12y ago

Gandi (https://www.gandi.net/ https://www.gandi.net/) is quite well-known for having free private domain registration.

And unlike many such services, they still list you as the owner of the domain; they just mask the email/address/phone information.

anonova 12y ago
I'm not sure if this is a positive or negative comment, but I'll explain why they do that. There are two main ways to mask domain name whois information: 1) go through a proxy service, i.e., a company buys the domain under their name and gives you control, or 2) effectively use another entity's contact information with the exception of name, which is what Gandi does. a) is rather risky to both parties. You do not own the domain, but another entity does. If you somehow lose the domain name or the entity holding the name goes under, you won't be able to get it back because it technically never belonged to you. The holder is also now legally responsible for the domain name. b) is a much safer route with the constraint that your name must be attached to the domain name. This makes it so you always remain responsible for and the registrant of the domain name. It is yours.
- JoshTriplett 12y ago
  > I'm not sure if this is a positive or negative comment Very much positive, for exactly the reasons you specified.

RexRollman 12y ago

Love Gandi. I can't say if their customer service is good, though, because I have yet to have any issues.

davidcollantes 12y ago

Could you provide the exact link for this? I have looked to no avail.

anonova 12y ago
It's an included service when you use them to manage your domain names. https://www.gandi.net/domain/whois/ https://www.gandi.net/domain/whois/ http://wiki.gandi.net/en/domains/private-registration http://wiki.gandi.net/en/domains/private-registration http://wiki.gandi.net/en/contacts/privatewhois http://wiki.gandi.net/en/contacts/privatewhois From the home page, it's at the bottom of the green box under "Every domain name includes".
- ldng 12y ago
  Well, the subtlety is that only applies to domain registered for "personal", not "business", use. Gandi support used to be the best. Now that domain isn't they core and only business, support quality is falling. Fast. I have an old account. And some point they migrated my old account. And now my domain is flagged as a business type domain, which it isn't. It is lock as they changed it themselves. When I've contacted them, they did not want to fix it. They messed up, denies it and won't fix it. So, for me, not so great customer support ... Anyway, I'm moving away, domain by domain.
  - soulshake 12y ago
    Hello from Gandi. The scenario you're describing sounds like a result of a change we made in 2006 when we added a new domain contact type. If so, we _can_ do something about it. Either way, we're not in the habit of messing up and refusing to fix it. If you have a ticket number from your previous exchange, we could go from there, or you can email me directly (aj@).