One of the reasons i wanted to shift to namecheap was because of the whois protection thing. Now here is my question - how important is it to have correct details in the whois anyway?I have seen pretty big sites also having incorrect details
I think it depends on your personal preference, if you want to hide your personal information you should go for private registration paying extra charges.
If you are using Private WhoIs, I don't see an issue in providing accurate details as it may be necessary in establishing you as the owner especially when the domain name comes into dispute.
Is there any harm of typing the wrong information?? Why take private registration? Is there anyharm on revealing your actual information?
The WHOIS is proof of ownership. If you put in fake info you can't prove its yours. What if you lose your email address or registration password, if someone steals the domains or you accidentally let the registration expire. How do you prove its yours to get assistance from the registrar? It is against ICANN policy to have fake information. If someone complains to the registrar and you don't correct it you could lose your domain.
Well, I never use fake info in my Whois, I don't see a reason to go against the ICANN policy. If there are personal sites I do not want people to bother me then I use a Private WhoIs and for my business sites, I just list my PO Box number in there. Not everyone searches the Whois when dealing with you but if they do, they may just be doing their due diligence in certifying that you are not a fly-by-night operation. Of course, I do get a few advertising snail mail each here but all I need to do is to junk those when they arrive if I am not into them.
Its against the registration policy but no one checks if the information is real or fake. Registrars will not call your phone number or send a postcard just to verify you. If you run a serious website, you better put your real info. Someone might offer you some kind of deal or a job but before doing that, he might check the details, make sure your business can be trusted. Fake details will scare away the person, show you untrustworthy and your business might miss a valuable partner or an important deal. A problem with fake whois details might occur if the website is involved in some illegal action. A complaint might make the registar look into your details, maybe contact you by phone and ask for explanations. Fake phone might lead to domain suspension, as you can guess. Although they contact by email first. Just showing examples, its your choice.
Except Registerfly full time and occasional promotions at Godaddy, all other domain registrars charge you for whois privacy. The only exception to the rule is US domains which does not support privacy for obvious national safety reasons.
I don't... I mean... okay never mind I've a domain registration service myself, its a free service from ICANN, but some companies do charge small fees and make money on free stuff
Well, with the profits from domain names being relatively small, I guess Domain Name Registrars just need to find creative ways in maximizing profits. I don't blame them for doing so, afterall a couple of dollars a year for what they offer isn't really much.
but apart from the fact that people jus might bother you, is there any other downside to giving the right whois details?
No, there isn't. There are a lot of upside to providing real information though. Real Information gives your visitors and customers a sense of security that they are dealing with a real and honest person. Fake details just shows that you have something you are hiding and people tend to distrust such behavior. Would you trust a dishonest person or someone who hides their identity or pretend to be someone else ?
exactly what i use to wonder man...it's really strange why people fake the information..and because they do i thought there might be some reason behind that
With goDaddy you can get private domain registration for about $7 a year - seems worth it to me to not have phone number & address in whois. They put in DomainsByProxy's address/phone instead.
Namecheap Private Whois is free for the first year but is not free for the subsequent year. However $7.88 can get you the Whois Privacy for 5 domains http://www.namecheap.com/learn/privacy-protection/whoisguard-whois-protection.asp