Ilegal alteration of web registration details ?

chillidoggy

not_the_dj said:

chillidoggy said:

What the fuck is going on?

There's been a multiple identify scammer selling stuff here, and he's caught quite a few people out, who've all paid by PPG....so the forum sleuths have tracked him down using his data trail on the internet....which he's now trying to remove as he knows he's a naughty boy and he's upset a lot of people. 

It's not Lixarto, is it?

bingefeller

chillidoggy said:

not_the_dj said:

chillidoggy said:

What the fuck is going on?

There's been a multiple identify scammer selling stuff here, and he's caught quite a few people out, who've all paid by PPG....so the forum sleuths have tracked him down using his data trail on the internet....which he's now trying to remove as he knows he's a naughty boy and he's upset a lot of people. 

It's not Lixarto, is it?

Imagine if Jonathan Collingridge was one of the Lixarto's alter egos, and Lixarto was in turn one of Drew's alter egos.  Imagine if Drew was leading a triple life as Drew, Lixarto and Jonathan Collingridge and Drew was married twice but neither wife knew about the other wife because Drew was able to keep track of what was going on.  I just bet that Drew tells his wives he's going on a business trip but he really has rented storage where he runs his computer networks from and he goes there and spends his weekend writing his weekly comments to be posted on forums at certain days and times (like a cron script).   

I knew it about Drew all along!!

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/506282/#Comment_506052

chillidoggy

I'm not sure whether a LOL or a WOW is appropriate here, but after some debate, I'm going with a WOW!

Fretwired

bingefeller said:

chillidoggy said:

not_the_dj said:

chillidoggy said:

What the fuck is going on?

There's been a multiple identify scammer selling stuff here, and he's caught quite a few people out, who've all paid by PPG....so the forum sleuths have tracked him down using his data trail on the internet....which he's now trying to remove as he knows he's a naughty boy and he's upset a lot of people. 

It's not Lixarto, is it?

Imagine if Jonathan Collingridge was one of the Lixarto's alter egos, and Lixarto was in turn one of Drew's alter egos.  Imagine if Drew was leading a triple life as Drew, Lixarto and Jonathan Collingridge and Drew was married twice but neither wife knew about the other wife because Drew was able to keep track of what was going on.  I just bet that Drew tells his wives he's going on a business trip but he really has rented storage where he runs his computer networks from and he goes there and spends his weekend writing his weekly comments to be posted on forums at certain days and times (like a cron script).   

I knew it about Drew all along!!

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/506282/#Comment_506052

Are you @randomhandclaps alter ego?

bingefeller

Fretwired said:

bingefeller said:

chillidoggy said:

not_the_dj said:

chillidoggy said:

What the fuck is going on?

There's been a multiple identify scammer selling stuff here, and he's caught quite a few people out, who've all paid by PPG....so the forum sleuths have tracked him down using his data trail on the internet....which he's now trying to remove as he knows he's a naughty boy and he's upset a lot of people. 

It's not Lixarto, is it?

Imagine if Jonathan Collingridge was one of the Lixarto's alter egos, and Lixarto was in turn one of Drew's alter egos.  Imagine if Drew was leading a triple life as Drew, Lixarto and Jonathan Collingridge and Drew was married twice but neither wife knew about the other wife because Drew was able to keep track of what was going on.  I just bet that Drew tells his wives he's going on a business trip but he really has rented storage where he runs his computer networks from and he goes there and spends his weekend writing his weekly comments to be posted on forums at certain days and times (like a cron script).   

I knew it about Drew all along!!

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/506282/#Comment_506052

Are you @randomhandclaps alter ego?

Now that's another story.....

ChrisMusic

Ok ~ let's step away from the surreal...

@boogieman said:

I think what the posters are saying is:
Our scammer friend has changed his website details illegally.

Well it was more of a question about the legality really.

I know that there is a lot of expertise in various fields represented within this great forum of ours.

That includes the guys who had the foresight to set this place up, although I appreciate if they may not want to comment much here.  So I was hoping that someone could clarify the ICANN registration particulars situation from a technical and legal stand point.

ChrisMusic

@robinbowes said:

I see that these contact details are still present on the above mentioned web site:

+44 (0) 7928 092825

INFO@JCOLLINGRIDGE.COM

And they are also captured in the Internet Archive Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20141220103705/http://www.jcollingridge.com/

Many thanks Robin, especially for the archive.org link.  That could be both useful and interesting to explore.

It is also good to know, and have this documented here, so that this change of registration information does not entirely cloud the waters, as some may have wished.

TTony

ChrisMusic said:

So I was hoping that someone could clarify the ICANN registration particulars situation from a technical and legal stand point.

I did raise this very Q with my domain registrant / hosting provider a while back.

Their UK operation claimed that I can't have my personal details suppressed for a .com domain, but I can do so for a .co.uk domain, and that this is "due to nominet regulations".  However, their US site shows how to withhold the details for .com domain if you're using the domain control panel on US site (the UK site doesn't have the same functionality and a UK customer can't log on to the US site). 

However, other UK-based domain registerers say that you can hide details for a .com domain. through exercising a privacy option.

None of it is totally private of course, but the privacy option does give another layer of apparent privacy.

@DigitalScream is more involved with this stuff, so he might be able to clarify ...

ChrisMusic

@TTony said:   He did change the details, although it's not too hard to find an archived version of the original details.

However, I don't believe that it's illegal to do so.  Many domain registrars allow you to withhold your personal details from the WHOIS db, for privacy reasons.  

That's where my knowledge ends and this is where interpretation takes over ... I *believe* that withholding of the data is permitted for individuals and non-trading organisations, but is not permitted for commercial / trading businesses.

Thanks Tony, that was pretty much my understanding, that withholding of the data is permitted for individuals and non-trading organisations, but is not permitted for commercial / trading businesses. 

As it appears that JCOLLINGRIDGE.COM is a commercial and trading business, it would certainly make the changes noted above questionable. It would be interesting if Jonathan Collingridge (J Collingridge) could clarify that, although I understand why that may not be possible right now.

If I was a high profile client considering using his photography services, and was doing my due diligence checks, I think that finding the website registered to Global Domain Privacy in Italy would raise my suspicions as to why someone operating as an architectural photographer would feel the need to hide and subvert his ownership of the website.

It would certainly raise a number of uncomfortable questions, and I would probably not feel that it was appropriate to hire any services from that company.  The undercurrent of subterfuge would damage my sense of trust irrevocably.  It seems a very poorly judged business decision, I wonder why it was considered necessary ?

ChrisMusic

TTony said:

ChrisMusic said:

So I was hoping that someone could clarify the ICANN registration particulars situation from a technical and legal stand point.

I did raise this very Q with my domain registrant / hosting provider a while back.

Their UK operation claimed that I can't have my personal details suppressed for a .com domain, but I can do so for a .co.uk domain, and that this is "due to nominet regulations".  However, their US site shows how to withhold the details for .com domain if you're using the domain control panel on US site (the UK site doesn't have the same functionality and a UK customer can't log on to the US site). 

However, other UK-based domain registerers say that you can hide details for a .com domain. through exercising a privacy option.

None of it is totally private of course, but the privacy option does give another layer of apparent privacy.

@DigitalScream is more involved with this stuff, so he might be able to clarify ...

Thanks Tony, I appreciate your response to the question, although I don't think that clarified much, probably clouded the waters a bit more.  Well that seems to be a common theme here, doesn't it ?

I wonder what the "privacy option" is all about ?

I still get the feeling that the regulations would not permit that for commercial use though.

It would appear to be different from what was enacted here though.

imalone

Following or not following nominet's rules isn't legal or illegal, it's just a question of whether you're in compliance with your contract with them. (Or, since you likely don't have a contract with them, then the registrar you're registered through.) It may make for interesting evidence if you or, for example, an architecural photographer, were to end up on trial for fraud.

Sambostar

Has anyone considered the fact that J COLLINGRIDGE may just be a fictitious character made up by the CIA, sent here to infiltrate, disrupt and destroy the very bastions of western civilisation as we know it?

randomhandclaps

Sambostar said:

Has anyone considered the fact that J COLLINGRIDGE may just be a fictitious character made up by the CIA, sent here to infiltrate, disrupt and destroy the very bastions of western civilisation as we know it?

GO HERE -

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/34978/i-m-not-sure-if-its-old-age-but-david-icke#latest

ChrisMusic

imalone said:

Following or not following nominet's rules isn't legal or illegal, it's just a question of whether you're in compliance with your contract with them. (Or, since you likely don't have a contract with them, then the registrar you're registered through.) It may make for interesting evidence if you or, for example, an architecural photographer, were to end up on trial for fraud.

A valid point there @imalone, however as far as web registrations go nominet's rules are the law.  They are underpinned by contractual law.

Interesting point about the perceived intent if it became supporting evidence  

digitalscream

That's exactly it - faking details on a domain registration is not a crime, and so not punishable under criminal law. The owner of a domain doesn't have a direct contract with Nominet, so they couldn't take them to civil court for it either; only the registrar would be able to do that, but they'd have no commercial reason to do so.

In reality...it wouldn't be worth anybody's while to try to pursue it (the registrar would probably be unable to get more than the registration cost of the domain back, which is usually less than £20), and as far as I know those terms and conditions have never been tested in a court so it may not even be binding in a civil court.

It's one of those "it works as long as most people abide by the rules" things.

ChrisMusic

Am I right in believing that nominate can "delete" (for want of a better word) any rule breaking registration ?

I would assume that would leave any web domain as an undeliverable address ?

What do you think @digitalscream, is that how it would be likely to work ?

digitalscream

ChrisMusic said:

Am I right in believing that nominate can "delete" (for want of a better word) any rule breaking registration ?

I would assume that would leave any web domain as an undeliverable address ?

What do you think @digitalscream, is that how it would be likely to work ?

Taking somebody's domain off them is a massively lengthy process, to the point where it's incredibly rarely done.

It's a dead end, really. You're not going to get any action out of Nominet or his domain registrar, because it just isn't worth their while; if it was something to do with an active defamation suit, or possibly child porn, you'd be on a winner. Short of that...nope.

ChrisMusic

Thanks for your reply, but it does make the web seem a bit like a 21st century "wild west".  Maybe that's not too far from the truth...