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02-25-2011, 04:07 AM #1Newbie
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A few questions for Richard (enetwork) from Namecheap
Hi Richard
Let me open this by saying I am not Namecheap-bashing in any way, shape or form. These is are genuine questions.
A few times I've had attempts to post comment spam on my gallery, with the spamvertised domain having been registered by Namecheap, and the spammer hiding behind your Whoisguard service. When your firstliners on the support desk have been informed by the proper channels, the response has been either that:
- Namecheap are not hosting the domain, or
- Namecheap will not divulge the real contact details.
Now in cases of 1, I'm well aware of that, and the hosting provider has been contacted too, and in case of 2, I've never once requested that Namecheap does divulge the real contact details to me.
However, the reports I submit clearly state that the reason why the report was submitted to your support desk is because the spammer is using your Whoisguard service in violation of the Whoisguard ToS. However much I try to get this through to the support desk staff, the mantra of 1 & 2 above is repeated ad nauseum.
In light of the fact that I've had no success in finding a direct email address for you (Which, again, is understandable - there are many crazies out there), I've come here to ask, as you seem to be fairly active and responsive here.
so....
Question 1: As the registrar of the spamvertised domains, and provider of the Whoisguard service that the spammers are using to hide behind, is there any policy within the company to deal with spammers using the Whoisguard service, if clear proof is provided that the spammers are doing so?
Question 2: If the answer to the above is yes, where should I report this abuse of your services to? I have not had much luck so far via the support@namecheap.com address
If you require, I can provide you with the latest ticket number via PM
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02-25-2011, 07:21 AM #2Web Hosting Master
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02-25-2011, 08:23 PM #3Temporarily Suspended
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To be honest, I would really start to think twice whether to keep my domain name with any registrar who would give every single detail about me to a random Joe who walks in with a few pieces of paper claiming I am DDOSing/attacking his website...
I definitely have no sympathy towards spammers and I think all those people should be punished. However, from Name Cheap's perspective, I think it is reasonable for them to make sure that the spamming is indeed the case (i.e., investigate the evidence you have provided), and see if your claim is true. And even if in the case your claim is true, the suspension/legal action should be taken by Name Cheap and not you, right?
Just my $0.02.
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02-25-2011, 09:03 PM #4Newbie
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Did you not understand this:
Originally Posted by FredFrog
Originally Posted by FredFrogLast edited by FredFrog; 02-25-2011 at 09:08 PM.
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02-25-2011, 09:06 PM #5Newbie
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02-25-2011, 09:34 PM #6Aspiring Evangelist
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1. Comment spamming while annoying is NOT illegal in the United States.
2. How can you possibly even have any idea that it was the person that owns the domain that left the comments?
If it was so easy to cause trouble, then people would just comment spam their competitors out of business.
Just delete the comments if they bother you. You just wasting NameCheap's time, they are never going to do anything about it. Because; see commend 1 & 2 above.
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02-25-2011, 09:35 PM #7Web Hosting Master
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Why not report the offending IP to the spammers hosting provider instead of going through the registrar, and simply block the IP?
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02-25-2011, 09:37 PM #8Aspiring Evangelist
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02-25-2011, 10:32 PM #9Newbie
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02-25-2011, 10:36 PM #10Newbie
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Comment spam very rarely originates from the host of the site being spamvertised. And the spamtrap automations DO report to the spammers hosting provider, and the owner of the IP range containing the originating IP address.
However, making life as difficult as possible for spammers is a good thing. Which is why any spammer misusuing WHOIS masking services, against the ToS of that WHOIS masking service, are also reported to the owners of the service, so that they may enforce their ToS by slinging the scumbag OFF their service.
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02-25-2011, 10:39 PM #11Aspiring Evangelist
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02-25-2011, 11:13 PM #12Temporarily Suspended
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02-25-2011, 11:15 PM #13Temporarily Suspended
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02-26-2011, 12:15 AM #14Web Hosting Evangelist
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I'm sure they have logs showing what IP requested to use their service, and what domain they went to. If you have logs/comments showing the date, and time then they should be able to just check the logs and see what IP it is, and then you could block that IP from your site all together. I guess thats the problem here though.. They wont tell you the ip right? I say just put something important on there, get like 10 people to buy it, and then file a lawsuit against them for not following their TOS, and file for loss of income..
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02-26-2011, 12:32 AM #15Aspiring Evangelist
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Ever here of an anonymous proxy? The people leaving those comments are using proxies, and it is highly unlikely that the proxies are keeping logs. If they do, your going to have one heck of a time getting a hold of them. Then on top of that, your going to have an even harder time proving it was the domain owner. Most of the time third parties are going to be hired to leave these comments.
I'm not sure exactly what your talking about, but you can't sue someone for not abiding by another companies TOS.
You're not going to get a domain disabled for comment spam and your not going to win a law suite.
There is nothing you can do but delete the comment.
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02-26-2011, 12:48 AM #16Disabled
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02-26-2011, 02:27 AM #17Web Hosting Master
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One catch to that is who exactly is going to determine if NameCheap's TOS is being violated.
Think of it like I put a do-not-step-on-my-grass sign on my lawn. One day a good friend comes over, but inadvertently steps on my grass as I come out to welcome him.
You tell my good friend, "Hey, don't step on that guy's lawn!", I wave you thanks, and both my friend and I walk in while stepping over my grass. Well, who decides that?
Anyway, just PM user enetwork or mdrussell with specifics about this. Or can't you put in some script or so to screen out comment spam like WordPress does?
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02-26-2011, 06:52 AM #18Newbie
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02-26-2011, 06:55 AM #19Newbie
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02-26-2011, 07:01 AM #20Newbie
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Which is indeed what happens. However, most free proxies are not anonymous. Reports to paid proxies see the spammers lose their proxy account, something which they factor into their costs.
Originally Posted by jamiedolan
Originally Posted by jamiedolan
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02-26-2011, 07:13 AM #21Newbie
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The analogy falls down in several areas. Here are just two:
- The spammers are not Namecheap's friends. They are paying for a service provided by Namecheap, which is supplied to them on condition they do not break the rules.
- Allowing your friends to wallk on your grass is not going to harm your reputation. Allowing spammers to use a service provided, however, will. One would think that Namecheap would be interested in protecting their reputation.
Originally Posted by Dave Zan
Originally Posted by FredFrog
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02-26-2011, 09:05 AM #22Web Hosting Master
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Heh, analogies are never perfect, but as long as they help understand or make a point. Point here is that only NameCheap will decide if their TOS is being violated or not, despite what others tell them.
I guess blocking the domain in question from your gallery won't work either? Or just PM the two users I mentioned previously and see how it goes.
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02-26-2011, 10:42 AM #23Newbie
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How exactly does one block a domain? You can block incoming traffic from an IP address, but not a domain. Considering that domains are portable with respect to IP addresses, and that incoming traffic comes from an IP address, not a domain, what you're saying really makes little sense. There are methods of blocking via content of the posted comment (Akismet, for example), but this is still not "blocking a domain".
Invariably, the spam originates from an IP address that is not the IP address of the host the spamvertised site is hosted on. Spammers are stupid, but not many are THAT stupid.
Back to the real point - Yes, it is up to Namecheap to decide if their ToS has been violated. But if they're not informed about the activity their "customers" undertake while making use of (And violating the conditions of) their service, how are they to even know that they have the decision to make? And who gets to make that decision? A firstliner who can't even understand what's being reported to them? Unfortunately, while everyone knows what email spam is, not many know what comment spam is. This is true of support staff too.
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02-26-2011, 11:54 PM #24Web Hosting Master
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I just figured there's maybe a script, Apache command or whatever that blocks off or filters anything with a specific word or so. Depends how your gallery is created.
If NameCheap's higher-ups taught their first or second-line people to handle certain issues in certain ways, then I guess that's how they want to do it. You can push it as far as you can, and their manager or so can also finally say, "Sorry, but our decision" despite the possible repercussions.
Just do what you can.
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02-27-2011, 02:28 AM #25Web Hosting Evangelist
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You can block a domain.. I did a google search, and http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/howto/access.html
"If you wish to restrict access to portions of your site based on the host address of your visitors, this is most easily done using mod_authz_host."
"The Allow and Deny directives let you allow and deny access based on the host name, or host address, of the machine requesting a document. The Order directive goes hand-in-hand with these two, and tells Apache in which order to apply the filters.
"
So I would think if you really wanted you could simply block the hostname used by the namecheap proxy.. or block multiple of their proxies..
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