Anonymous purchase of domain name

I have a case where a client wants to have a domain name, run a site, take payments, maybe run ads--basically do the usual e-commerce thing, but be as anonymous as possible. There's nothing nefarious or illegal here--the client lives in a conservative southern small town and wants to sell some...um...erotically stimulating lotions and devices.

I'm not sure what the state of the art in "anonymous" is. When I make a site for myself, I just register a domain in my own name.

What are the choices here?

Can a lawyer set up (relatively cheaply) a pseudonym that can be used for bank accounts, businesses, etc?

Or is there a registrar you can use that will leave name blank?

Can PO Box be used rather than street address?

Anyone out there have such experience? What do you do?

Solution 1:

1. Register the domain privately through a TRUSTED 3rd party such as an attorney.

2. Set up a private mail box, PO box, or even virtual mailbox such as http://earthclassmail.com

3. Go take a look at http://whois.domaintools.com and understand that there are many sites out there like this one that track changes to whois information, what IP a domain resolves to, etc. If you're trying to stay anonymous you need to understand that the internet has a "very long memory". Any mistake you make today, such as using REAL info for even a day or two can come back to haunt you later.

4. Go take a look at http://www.archive.org and the "Wayback Machine" and understand that once again, the internet has a very long memory. Any identifiable info you put up today can be saved for YEARS into the future.

5. If you buy an SSL certificate be sure to keep in mind that the information you use for that can be seen by anyone clicking on properties for that certificate. I've seen so many people who THOUGHT they were anonymous and then an employee registered an SSL certificate with the business street address (or one time, the owner's home address) instead of the PO Box, etc.

I've registered a lot of domains in my time, both private and public. I've also helped clients who were involved in lawsuits track down who owns a domain, etc, etc.

The domain isn't the ONLY thing you need to be concerned about. You also need to keep in mind things such as the IP the site is hosted on, where your DNS is hosted, etc.

The WORST thing you could do is go through all the trouble to be anonymous with your domain and then host your site at your house... or at a facility where one phone call and a bit of "social engineering" will reveal the owner of the domain.

Remember, the human firewall is typically the best/fastest place to attack when looking for information. All it takes is a phone call.

Solution 2:

Many registrars will offer a free or paid option where they blank out your contact information (address and phone and email), but it keep your legal name listed as the owner.

If you're looking for complete privacy, look into a domain name proxy registrar, which will use their information for the owner name and all contact information. If you go this route, just read the contract carefully, as some companies may retain more rights to the domain name than you may be happy with.

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_privacy for a little more information.

Solution 3:

Exactly, set it up with private registration. Everything is hidden, it shows the domain being registered to the registrar. From Network Solutions its an additional $9 per year, per domain, totally reasonable.