Whois Failed Me in Helping Contact Owner of Registered Domain. Any Other Ideas?

[sashagilberg]

hey,

I found this domain I really like and best of all there was no site on it. But when I tried registering the domain it showed up as already registered since '96.

I whois'd the domain and sent off an email address to the owner, but my email was knocked back because this email didn't exist anymore.

I called up this guys domain registration and hosting company and they could only provide me with the same whois info I already found.

So my question is, is there still something I can do to get in touch with this guy? Would hiring a domain broker be worth it, or do they simply go through the same whois information as me?

[p2y]

Have you tried calling the phone number or sending a letter? It seems weird in the digital age of twitter and facebook, but sometimes it is the most reliable means of communication

[sashagilberg]

I tried but the number doesn't exist and the address has no house number to post it to. I've been doing hours and hours of research trying to find a way to contact them but I'm running out of ideas.

Do domain brokers have access to confidential information that I may not be seeing?

[txconx]

Re whois information for domain name - domain name owners are supposed to keep their whois information current, as required by ICANN.

Send me a PM - I'm not approved for them yet.

[JeffH]

You could check here: Reverse IP - View all domain names hosted on an IP address and see if maybe there are some other domains he registered with different contact info.

[awesometbn]

Originally Posted by alexgilberg

I found this domain I really like

So my question is, is there still something I can do to get in touch with this guy?

Try archive.org and see if there is any older data that will point you in the right direction. Maybe an old email address or other contact information. Sorry if you've already done this, but use different search engines (google, dogpile, bing, yahoo, and so on) to look for any mention of the domain name, and see what kind of interesting leads that produces for you.

Another idea is to pay extra for the services of domaintools.com and look at the nameserver history for this domain, and possibly locate some older whois records. What I would do is find out what domain registrar is getting paid to keep this domain name current, and ask the registar to forward a message to the domain owner that you are interested in it. If you have questions on how domain brokers work, just ask them before you pay anything so you can make your own judgements about how effective they will be in securing the domain name on your behalf.

Good luck and keep posting here to let us know what happens. You don't have to reveal the domain name if you don't want to, but I think others would like to know what steps you are taking. Thanks!

[sashagilberg]

Good idea Jeff! I tried that on the main domain I want but it still didn't come up with anything. Then I tried it on my 2nd preference domain and this time it actually came up with some results that may help me contact the owner.

I still really want my 1st preference domain, anyone have any other ideas?

[KirkMcD]

Originally Posted by alexgilberg

I still really want my 1st preference domain, anyone have any other ideas?

1. Report it for having false Whois info.
2. Wait a few months for it to be dropped.
3. Buy it.

[sashagilberg]

I gave your idea a shot Kirk

[sashagilberg]

I ended up registering a similar domain but with an addition so as to not bother with all this hassle.

eg. If the domain I wanted was 'vincedelmonte.com' but that was registered, I just added a relevant word to the end to make it 'vincedelmontefitness.com'.
That's a real example (not mine unfortunately haha) and I know he's very successful.