Hi. I'm hoping can help me quick on this. I recently went to www.checkdomain.com and if you type in your URL in the search domain. Your name, address, phone number and all that personal info shows up. Does anyone know how to prevent that information from showing? Check domain told me to contact Dreamhost and I did, and waiting for a response. If someone can help me sooner here I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Our privacy policy states that your account information is (by default) used for domain registrations, and these days, I believe we also confirm this information before the registration is submitted.

You can change this to other information from the web panel (under Domains -> Registration), provided the information you provide is valid. I would suggest a voice mail, work physical address, etc., an email address you check but perhaps not your main one, if possible.

We do not provide a "private registration" service - if you want a somewhat anonymous domain registration, you'd want to look at one of the other services which provides this.

Will.. Thank you very much. Your help is very much appreciated. Awesome service! A++

There are services that will mask that information. Godaddy offers a service like that.

-Jason

MP3Mystic Your personal Streaming MP3 Server
Dreamhost Hosting

> We do not provide a "private registration" service ...

There seems to be a growing demand (the curve is quite steep) of this kind of service, I guess the business manager of DreamHost's domain registration wing (sorry, I just assume there will be one) might want to take a serious look into it. As an ICANN-accredited registrar, DreamHost can offer a much sought after service while raising its profit margin SIGNIFICANTLY! ;)

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GungHost.com - Gung-ho Web Hosting :: $7.95/mo for 2,400 MB Disk and 120 GB Transfer

You never know, but I don't think we're going to do anything like that anytime soon. I've posted about this before - the potential legal problems and added abuse complaints seem like they would be pretty problematic. I imagine we might look into an anonymized email service at some point - that would be a good suggestion for the suggestions section of the panel.

As you can probably imagine, the actual profit we derive from domain registration is not very high. We charge $15 for domain registration; I won't post how much each one costs, but it's pretty easy to find out (the fee that goes to the registry for each domain) - remember that we're talking /yearly/ here. Even if we charged a premium for this service (prices comarable to domains by proxy or similar services), it's probably not worth it from a financial standpoint, even if we are the 88th largest[1] and 24th fastest growing[2] registrar. :>

But if it's really a big deal, why not just spend the extra $$ and get a voice mailbox and a PO Box? With any significant number of domains, that would probably end up being cheaper anyway.

"Business Manager of [our] domain registration wing" - you're kidding, right? : >

[1] http://www.webhosting.info/registrars/top-registrars/global/?pi=6

[2] http://www.webhosting.info/registrars/fastest-growing-registrars/global/?pi=2

> But if it's really a big deal, why not just spend the extra $$ and get a voice mailbox and a PO Box? With any significant number of domains, that would probably end up being cheaper anyway.

This is EXACTLY what I have been advocating all along. But still, A LOT of people (mostly with only a couple of domains) find it convenient to take care of this on-line ALONG with their domain registration. I'm thinking if DreamHost could offer something similar, you guys would probably double your profit at the least.

Yes, there sure are some legal consideration. Perhaps an innovative way is to offer some kind of "business center" solutions (e.g. by providing postal address and phone number) instead of masking the registrant altogether. Most I know just don't want their HOME contact info available to the world.

Anyway, just some quick thoughts. By the way, I'm more than willing and ready to be DreamHost's first "Business Manager - Domain Registration". LOL! :D

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GungHost.com - Gung-ho Web Hosting :: $7.95/mo for 2,400 MB Disk and 120 GB Transfer

Oh nice statistics Will... Great to be a part of Dreamhost =)

someone PMed me asking for the link to thegodaddy service that allowed private registrations here it is

Go Daddy Private domain registration

They use a third party (Something dreamhost might consider, would limit the support hassles) and charge an additional $7.95/year for it.

- jason
(I have no affiliation with godaddy other than being a custoer of thier registration (not private) services. I am also a VERY happy dreamhost customer. I am not part of any go daddy regferall program).



MP3Mystic Your personal Streaming MP3 Server
Dreamhost Hosting

> They use a third party

Domains by Proxy is part of Godaddy.