Tag: Domains by Proxy

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News Video Games

THQ will develop WWE Showdown into a videogame according to domain buy

John Cena vs The Miz

Almost two weeks ago, PWInsider reported that WWE had filed a trademark application (Serial Number: 85482730) for WWE Showdown that covered video and computer games.

As some had already speculated, it does appear WWE game publisher THQ will be releasing WWE Showdown as a videogame sometime in the near future. 

On December 13, 2011, the domain name WWEShowdown.com (WHOIS) was registered with Go Daddy.

While the registrant of the name is hidden behind Go Daddy’s WHOIS privacy service – Domains by Proxy – the domain servers listed (NS1.THQ.COM, NS2.THQ.COM and NS3.THQ.COM) belong to THQ. 

Surprisingly, even though news of WWE’s trademark filing appeared on new sites like Wrestling Inc. almost two weeks ago, no one immediately cybersquatted on the domain.

Neither WWE nor THQ have made an announcement as of yet.

(Image of John Cena vs The Miz via WWE)

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News Video Games

ModernWarfare3.com owner revealed, Go Daddy’s Privacy removed during UDRP

Modern Warfare 3 reveal trailer

The Battlefield 3 fanboy who has fueled the drama between Electronic Arts and Activision by re-directing ModernWarfare3.com to Battlefield.com has been officially revealed.

Originally hidden behind Go Daddy’s Domains By Proxy (DBP) service, it appears the registrar giant doesn’t want to get involved in the domain dispute recently filed under the UDRP by Activision against the owner of ModernWarfare3.com.

Today, Go Daddy’s DBP has removed the privacy service on the domain, revealing the identity of the ModernWarfare3.com owner who has entertained Call of Duty and Battlefield fans with his online antics for weeks.

So who is this person who got the attention of gaming publications, fans and of course, Activision?

The registrant is Anthony Abraham of Florida according to the latest Whois records furnished by DomainTools. 

Anthony, who has been hush hush since the beginning, will likely be receiving calls and e-mails from reporters over the next few days.

Now, if you’re wondering why the privacy service was removed all of the sudden, according to the Domains by Proxy website, cancelling the privacy service is just how it handles UDRP matters.

“DBP routinely receives notices from its affiliated registrars informing it of the filing of various administrative proceedings under the Policy.  Upon receipt of such notices, DBP cancels its privacy service for the domain name that is the subject of the Policy dispute and notifies its customer about the cancellation of service.”

Discussion: Kotaku, Joystiq, Game Rant and Machinima

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News Trademarks

Bad news for domain sleuths, Go Daddy finally fixes WHOIS Privacy leaks in Account Retrieval System

Go Daddy Account Retrieval System

Go Daddy has finally fixed a huge privacy leak issue that was first reported and publicized by Abdu Tarabichi back in March: revealing partial e-mail addresses of domain owners. 

The flaw gave anyone the ability to see a partial e-mail address of a registrant, even if the registrant had used Go Daddy’s privacy service, Domains by Proxy, Inc.

For people to see the partial e-mail address, all one had to do was simply try and retrieve a customer number online from Go Daddy’s main website.  In the past, to retrieve a customer number online, you would select a product from a list (for example “Domain Name”), enter a security access code by retyping the graphic number shown on screen, then Go Daddy would display a partially masked email address on the screen that corresponded to the domain name you entered, such as ****email.com.

In fact, it made it somewhat easy for domain sleuths to see which company registered a domain name, that is, if the company happened to use a corporate email address such as ***zynga.com.  

Social gaming giant Zynga finally started using a generic Yahoo! email address in order to keep its domain registrations a better kept secret.  The company regularly uses Go Daddy’s privacy services, but after a number of stories revealed it was the owner of certain domain names, the company switched away from its company address.

The change to Go Daddy’s Account Retrieval System fixes the way that you retrieve customer numbers online. 

Go Daddy now requires you to enter the email address on the account, as an additional step.

Here’s a look at the old way of doing things.  Go Daddy has yet to update its Online Help.