Anyone else have proof of Domain Name Front Running?

[pmack]

This has come up a bit on HN. The registrar I used to use (still have a bunch registered) is based in Canada - did this to me last week. Searched for a name, 2 weeks later the registrar registered it to sell for more. I think this is despicable company behavior. Any recourse? From now on I'm only going to search for a new name from Icann and Cira in Canada.

[cookiengineer]

Had these coincidences a bunch of times when I was writing with someone on Telegram. Like, 3 times in a row. We were discussing potential domain names for a project and they got auto-linked and probably auto-scanned by Telegram's preview bot, which in return probably shares the data with a third-party company.

Never post your domains anywhere online nowadays, until you really registered the domain and the DNS entry is pointing to your server.

[bradknowles]

Some do, some don't. I've never had this problem with GANDI, for example.

[pcthrowaway]

Gandi was acquired earlier this year and I wouldn't have so much faith in the new ownership just yet

[bjorn2run]

Can’t say for sure they don’t, but I haven’t experienced this with Hover and have a bunch of domains with them. I’ve searched and come back weeks later without this bummer situation. Sorry to hear it happened to you!

[JacobAldridge]

Flashbacks to 2008, when u/zemaj searched for NetworkSolutionsSucksBalls.com so we could all chuckle at the Network Solutions man at work under that domain.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=96246

Plus ça change.

[simne]

I see this behavior from time to time. I don't think its right, but I cannot remember any law, which prohibit it.

So, I decide, when I will buy my big domain, will make checks from some hosting like cf, or just download full list of all domains I could consider, and run all searches locally.

[Xorakios]

I thought GoDaddy did this, but stopped. Haven't seen a problem with them in years

[cssanchez]

Just want to mention that I've searched many names with Porkbun and Cloudflare Registrar recently and they haven't done this, so maybe try with either of those for future reference.

[pmack]

I'm going to move to Porkbun. Heard positive things, and their transfer and pricing seems pretty good.

[pacerier]

Why porkbun? Do you despise cloudflare in registraring?

[TheP1000]

Yes, GoDaddy does this.

[Trias11]

Instead of fighting with evil (unless it's your quest) - look for a good guys, like namecheap, and use them.

Lots of time, nerves and money saved.

[wmf]

They all do that and have for years. It's not safe to search for domains through any registrar.

[pmack]

Do they all do that? Must be a tough business...

[cpach]

That’s a bold claim.

[antifa]

No, it's generally true. The rule of thumb is better stated as:

Until after your domain is purchased, or you know who the current registered owner is, the domain you are shopping for is a closely guarded secret, more valuable than a master password.

Assume everyone (slack, msteams, your browser extensions, your firewall, your corporate VPN, your co-worker's electron apps) is snopping on you and will get a commission for leaking your domain to the fronting groups.

Domain squatters charge a minimum of that's at least $2000.

[spl757]

I use namecheap and I haven't noticed this, but I also haven't really looked.

[ipaddr]

What register? MyId, GoDaddy?