Issue with Directnic!

[xenigo]

I've never had a problem with Directnic before this, and I've used them for years. I've read some rumors on GFY about people searching for a certain domain... and they go back a few hours later to register, and bam it's gone. I have seen thread, after thread of this activity... which seemed a bit odd to me, but I dismissed it as maybe a coincidence.

Well that brings me to tonight. I checked the availability of a domain at approximately 7pm, and confirmed it was available. Now I figured, after I thought about it for a while, that I should probably register the domain before I go to bed.

So I sit down, and the god damn thing is taken. I can't help but think someone must have been looking at the domain queries, and picking up the ones people type in... as was suggested in the GFY threads from a few weeks ago. Is this possible?

I want to hear from Directnic about this. Are people looking at the domain queries? Is this something I should be concerned about in the future? I get a really bad taste in my mouth about this subject. It has really ticked me off. This particular domain has no history of ever being a site.

[Trev]

Use Netsol for your future queries while you think about registering the domain or not...

[Mike AI]

This is ABSOLUTELY FALSE!!!! directNIC does not do this at all. Domain queries are not even tracked and saved in our system.

My suggestion is when you have a good idea for a domain, especially a .com you buy it immediately. There are huge companies backed by Wall Street money who register hundreds of thousands of domains everyday to evaluate them.

What is the domain? Let's look at the whois information, we should get a clue of what happened.

You should not make charges like this in a public forum unless you know the facts. We expect an apology for your mis perceptions.

directNIC has been focused on Customer Service from day one, our Customers always come first and we do everything in our power to make their domains safe. If people know just 20% of the things directNIC has to deal with on a daily basis to protect our customers domains your hair would probably fall out.

[Mike AI]

Oh and another piece of advice, you may want to think about taking information you read at GFY as fact without first doing research to verify the information independently.

[Vick]

xenigo
You might be off base and out of line
Acting angry and insinuating some nonsense about an outstanding (by your own admission) company and service when you might 100% to blame for not acting quick enough
So do like Mike suggested and see who registered the domain

[TheEnforcer]

xenigo
You might be off base and out of line
Acting angry and insinuating some nonsense about an outstanding (by your own admission) company and service when you might 100% to blame for not acting quick enough
So do like Mike suggested and see who registered the domain

What he said.... :)

[Raven]

I may not be on top of things...but there are hundreds of thousands of searches for domains, hourly...

Isn't it possible that somebody else thought up the domain name and bought it during those eight hours you didn't buy it?

Conspiracy theories are fun; but, not always the case.

[xenigo]

This is ABSOLUTELY FALSE!!!! directNIC does not do this at all. Domain queries are not even tracked and saved in our system.

My suggestion is when you have a good idea for a domain, especially a .com you buy it immediately. There are huge companies backed by Wall Street money who register hundreds of thousands of domains everyday to evaluate them.

What is the domain? Let's look at the whois information, we should get a clue of what happened.

You should not make charges like this in a public forum unless you know the facts. We expect an apology for your mis perceptions.

directNIC has been focused on Customer Service from day one, our Customers always come first and we do everything in our power to make their domains safe. If people know just 20% of the things directNIC has to deal with on a daily basis to protect our customers domains your hair would probably fall out.

Mike,
I'm not blaming DirectNIC, and I apologize if I implied I was blaming anyone. I'm merely asking if this could be true. That is all. You answered my question.

I just don't understand how hours could go by, and bam it's gone. A coincidental inquiry to a domain seems to have triggered someone elses's buy of the domain.

Seems very strange. It's not some high profile domain, by any means. And I've read about this happening elsewhere, that's why I had to ask you guys, since I thought you may have heard of similar stories.

[xenigo]

I may not be on top of things...but there are hundreds of thousands of searches for domains, hourly...

Isn't it possible that somebody else thought up the domain name and bought it during those eight hours you didn't buy it?

Conspiracy theories are fun; but, not always the case.

Yes it's possible. Also possible to get hit by a meteor and zapped into galactic dust on my way to the office in the morning. :unsure:

[Mike AI]

Mike,
I'm not blaming DirectNIC, and I apologize if I implied I was blaming anyone. I'm merely asking if this could be true. That is all. You answered my question.

I just don't understand how hours could go by, and bam it's gone. A coincidental inquiry to a domain seems to have triggered someone elses's buy of the domain.

Seems very strange. It's not some high profile domain, by any means. And I've read about this happening elsewhere, that's why I had to ask you guys, since I thought you may have heard of similar stories.




What is the domain? Let us know so we can all look it up and see who owns it.

[Raven]

Yes it's possible. Also possible to get hit by a meteor and zapped into galactic dust on my way to the office in the morning. :unsure:

Seriously?

There was a domain that I thought would never, in a million years, be available...and to my surprise it was...and then there are domains that I thought no one would even want...and they were taken....so, not only is it possible....it's more than likely probable....and this is not to defend DirectNic, although I don't think they even need defending...

[sarettah]

Just to add my two cents.

There have been times that I have been looking up domains and one has shown as available that I knew for sure was not available and when I went to buy it, sure as hell it was taken.

So, there is always a possibility that in the wonderful world of dns and registrars that the domain was showing available when it really wasn't.

Like Mike said, a quick lookup of whois will probably show what happened.

[xenigo]

Just to add my two cents.

There have been times that I have been looking up domains and one has shown as available that I knew for sure was not available and when I went to buy it, sure as hell it was taken.

So, there is always a possibility that in the wonderful world of dns and registrars that the domain was showing available when it really wasn't.

Like Mike said, a quick lookup of whois will probably show what happened.


I clicked on the guy's "Buy this Domain" link on the SE spam page he put up, and he wants $500 for it. It was definitely available when I queried for it originally.
Updated Date: 13-apr-2006
Creation Date: 13-apr-2006
Expiration Date: 13-apr-2007

[Mike AI]

I clicked on the guy's "Buy this Domain" link on the SE spam page he put up, and he wants $500 for it. It was definitely available when I queried for it originally.
Updated Date: 13-apr-2006
Creation Date: 13-apr-2006
Expiration Date: 13-apr-2007


Come on, something seems shady about you not posting the domain so we can see what is going on.

You mention "he wants $500 for it." Who is he? Did you talk to him voice? Through e-mail?

Are you satisfied that is was not directNIC who is at fault?

[Jace]

I can vouche for the fact that if you do any queries through www.whois.sc that someone is tracking them and they will be taken if they have any value whatsoever...I have done some experiments on my own with that site, and had a few friends try it out too....we did some queries and came back a week later and the domains were taken

[Mike AI]

I can vouche for the fact that if you do any queries through www.whois.sc (http://www.whois.sc/) that someone is tracking them and they will be taken if they have any value whatsoever...I have done some experiments on my own with that site, and had a few friends try it out too....we did some queries and came back a week later and the domains were taken


Who uses whois.sc ? What country extension is .SC anyway?

[Jace]

Who uses whois.sc ? What country extension is .SC anyway?

millions of people every day, it is one of the most used whois tools in the world

http://www.whois.sc/sex.com

no clue what country extension it is, but you can find every detaill about a site out just from asking whois.sc

they didn't used to grab names, but now that they have been bought out, someone is being sneaky over there, so I just use them for information and keep my domain searches to my own personal domain registrar site

[Jace]

.sc is Seychelles

[Peaches]

Who uses whois.sc ? What country extension is .SC anyway?
I use whois.sc - I have no idea what country it is, but they have a wealth of whois info. I've never done a search on a domain I wanted through them though, just use it for informational purposes only :)

[Mike AI]

Interesting.

The domain game has changed a lot with the huge influx of Private Equity. There are major companies registering millions of domains a week new and dropped to evalaute them for any value.

Webfather's predictions were correct. All of us could be retired if we had followed his advice.

[slavdogg]

Who uses whois.sc ? What country extension is .SC anyway?

I'm surprised u dont know who whois.sc is
btw they just changed their name to http://www.domaintools.com
most valuable domain tool out there
and the only ones to provide whois history

[Trev]

Who uses whois.sc ? What country extension is .SC anyway?
It's the best whois site on the web.

[Mike AI]

It's the best whois site on the web.

That is what Slav said as well, yet Jace beleives people are tracking and snarking domains.

[Jace]

That is what Slav said as well, yet Jace beleives people are tracking and snarking domains.
I just stopped using it to see if domains were available, I still use it to check whois info though

[Trev]

That is what Slav said as well, yet Jace beleives people are tracking and snarking domains.
I trust whois.sc (domaintools.com), directnic.com and tucows.com, my first post regarding netsol was me being sarcastic as they were the ones doing the domain sniping a ways back. :)

[Jace]

I trust whois.sc (domaintools.com), directnic.com and tucows.com, my first post regarding netsol was me being sarcastic as they were the ones doing the domain sniping a ways back. :)
do some testing on whois.sc...since they got bought/changed they have had reports everywhere about snagging domains that have been searched

I did some testing personally, and out of the 5 I searched for 1 of them was gone a week later....I wish I still had the domain names, but I lost them when my laptop went kapoot....I will do it again right now though and repost in this thread in a week

[xenigo]

Now this conversation is actually going somewhere productive, and I'm not smoking something funny like Mike AI suggests.

[Mike AI]

Now this conversation is actually going somewhere productive, and I'm not smoking something funny like Mike AI suggests.


I am not saying you are smoking anything funny. There is no doubt some companies are doing this. I guess its domain phishing. However directNIC does NOT, never has, and never will. We are successful because of our dedication to customer service.

You should research things first, especially if you get them from GFY.

I am still waiting for the domain, I am curious to see who actually owns it. Still want to know who the "he" is that you claim wants $500 for domain.

Answer at your own leisure. :whistling

[slavdogg]

That is what Slav said as well, yet Jace beleives people are tracking and snarking domains.

i didnt say they're not doing that
i dont know
whois.sc runs the backend whois search for most major registrars
here is a list of some of their clients
http://www.nameintelligence.com/

they are tracking all whois requests, dont know if they're snarking domains or not thats another issue.

[Pornwolf]

It's insane to think that some shady companies out there wouldn't track whois searches and steal them from under a buyers nose. There's too much money at stake in a lightly regulated marketplace for everyone to be expected to be honest.

Hell, I just got finished bidding against what I believe to be an automated bidder at Snapnames. I seriously doubt it was a person. I think it was Snapnames it'self but that's my speculation and not fact.

I would trust Mike AI before just about any of these other clowns.

[idomains]

DomainTools.com is very handy, Directnic are great also.. Havent used them for many years but they always kicked butt.

[Trev]

do some testing on whois.sc...since they got bought/changed they have had reports everywhere about snagging domains that have been searched

I did some testing personally, and out of the 5 I searched for 1 of them was gone a week later....I wish I still had the domain names, but I lost them when my laptop went kapoot....I will do it again right now though and repost in this thread in a week
1 domain out of 5 aint bad imho. That could have been a real reg and not a snipe as well.

[Jace]

1 domain out of 5 aint bad imho. That could have been a real reg and not a snipe as well.
well, if you had seen the domain name you would know it wasn't something a real person would have wanted unless they had the exact same thing in mind....it was a combination of porn words and cash words...

[xenigo]

You should research things first, especially if you get them from GFY.

I am still waiting for the domain, I am curious to see who actually owns it. Still want to know who the "he" is that you claim wants $500 for domain.

Answer at your own leisure. :whistling


I'm absolutely intense with my research... it's not lacking, trust me on that. I do not post unsubstantiated claims without being absolutely sure there's an issue. This, I would say, is definitely an issue.

I'm trying to grasp what purpose it would serve to say what domain I was interested in acquiring. I don't see the utility in letting anyone know what I'm doing. But I most certainly want people to know that there is a problem... no doubt.

[Timon]

Quite simply, domains don't show up in WHOIS instantly after they have been registered so while WHOIS may tell you a domain is still available it may already have been registered earlier that day.

You're not the only one who keeps track of good domains becoming available.

[Timon]

anyway I think your conspiracy theories will go over better on GFY, you might want to take them there instead ;)

[slavdogg]

Mike, who runs directnic's whois search. what company?
and what connection do they have to dotster ?

[Mike AI]

I'm absolutely intense with my research... it's not lacking, trust me on that. I do not post unsubstantiated claims without being absolutely sure there's an issue. This, I would say, is definitely an issue.

I'm trying to grasp what purpose it would serve to say what domain I was interested in acquiring. I don't see the utility in letting anyone know what I'm doing. But I most certainly want people to know that there is a problem... no doubt.


This is rubbish!

You make false accusations, then you cannot even answer my simple questions.


What are you hiding? You have an owner of the company who was willing to look into the issues and help your find out what happen and you cannot even provide the domain in dispute.

let me guess, was it sex.com ? porn.com ?

I do not know you, but as Timon said you should stick to GFY, I am sure you are a hit over there.

[PornoDoggy]

Dude ... I don't have a horse in this race, but I gotta wonder how come you won't post the domain name to get this cleared up?

[Winetalk.com]

xenigo, don't mind those old voulchers, you stired shit like no newbie before you!

[gonzo]

I'm trying to grasp what purpose it would serve to say what domain I was interested in acquiring. I don't see the utility in letting anyone know what I'm doing. But I most certainly want people to know that there is a problem... no doubt.

Your the one that insinuated that Directnic scammed your domain name. You should at least send Mike AI a PM with the domain name so he can do some "intense researching".

[PornoDoggy]

You just want to bitch, is that it?

[Mike AI]

Mike, who runs directnic's whois search. what company?
and what connection do they have to dotster ?

From what I understand we have our own server that handles this. We have no affiliation with dotster at all.

[slavdogg]

From what I understand we have our own server that handles this. We have no affiliation with dotster at all.

Mike, thats what i thought.
I know there is no connection to dotster, was just checking if an outside company runs your whois servers thats all.

I've seen the domain name in this case.
I can with all certainty rule out any directnic involvement in this registration.

However all signs do point to Dotster or its parent or sister company being a whois sniffer, grabing names, and also parking them through their inhouse (Google AFD) parking program.


while writing this post i did some searching in google and found this. Sounds idential to what happened here, other than the directnic part.

3/28/06 (http://digg.com/links/Thinking_about_registering_a_domain_Don_t_check_if _it_s_available_#c1333939) just had this happen to me. A little more than a week ago I searched for a domain for a customer I'm doing a site for. The domain name is (owners last name)studio.com and the owners name is very unusual (not Smith or Jones) So I waited a week or so before registering it just to make sure the customer was all go. Well over the weekend I go to register it and sure shit, it was purchased just the day before. so yeah... this scam sucks.

Info on who sniped my domain:
emails: domains@revenuedirect.com, domainsale@gmail.com
they registered the domain through: Dotster.

[slavdogg]

here is another case of similar shit happening
http://www.namepros.com/domain-appraisals/168408-i-picked-up-couple-gems-warning.html

but a dif company in this case

[xenigo]

xenigo, don't mind those old voulchers, you stired shit like no newbie before you!

I guess we're all newbies compared to you, Serge. But I've been in online adult since '99. So do me a favor and tie it in a knot.

:whistling

And Mike AI, I'll give you a call tomorrow if you PM me your number. We can discuss this in further detail, but for reasons I mentioned previously, I'm not going to post the domain in this thread.