Dave Piscitello, senior security technologist at ICANN, and Kieren McCarthy, ICANN's public participation general manager, wrote a guide to help consumers understand how to register a domain name, published for the first time here on the WebWatch blog. There are a number of points to consider, and this top ten list helps guide you through the process, without all the techspeak. Number one on the list: Is the company you are buying it from accredited by ICANN? Though there's some controversy about how ICANN has administered contracts with registrars in the past, some protection is better than none. (There's a list of accredited registrars here.)

Number two: Is the site secure? Read about how to figure that out, along with the rest of our top ten.
Some full disclosures:
I'm on the at-large advisory committee of ICANN, and one of the things I have agreed to do is help work toward more transparency and consumer rights among the registrar community.
No money changed hands; Dave and Kieren are both on ICANN's staff and wrote this on staff time. One of the things WebWatch has committed to in its involvement with ICANN is to try to make more information about the organization available to consumers with as little techspeak, legalese and baloney as possible. Please let us know what you think of one of our first efforts.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a Russian site with a U.S. host (in Dallas, Texas), selling passports, social security numbers, bank cards, and a treasure trove of stuff easily used for criminal activity. The URL is: http://www.fakeidscan.info/index_en.phtml By the way, the "add to cart" icons simply generate an e-mail form. Google-mapping the address gets you a parking lot.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 02:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I recently received a letter from the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia informing me that I was eligible for a refund as a result of a class-action lawsuit.

If you traveled abroad between 1996 and 2006 and used a credit card, you’re probably one of the 30 million or so consumers who’ll receive a similar notice.

The refund is part of a proposed settlement against Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club and others for overcharging consumers on foreign currency conversions and failing to disclose fees. While the defendants deny any wrongdoing, they did agree to fork over $336 million to avoid further litigation.

Although the settlement gives you the option of requesting a refund (a maximum of 1%) based on your total purchases during the period in question, I opted for the $25 "easy refund." I began filling out the form when I noticed you can submit your application online, at this website: www.ccfsettlement.com.

But, being a lousy typist, I accidentally typed “ccffsettlement.com” in my browser, and found myself on this page.

If you’ve ever misspelled a domain name, chances are you’ve probably run across a similar page full of sponsored links. The practice, fittingly enough, is known as typosquatting.

Although typosquatters can direct you to sites full of porn or badware, most are relatively harmless, like this one, which is a domain parking site.

After I retyped the correct URL in my browser and applied for my refund (which was quick and easy), I went back and plugged the domain parking site into Who is to see who owns it.

Turn out the site is registered to "Pickle of the Month, Inc." Really.

Googling “Pickle of the Month” led me to this page: www.pickleofthemonth.com.

Although selling pickles on the Internet didn't prove to be a sustainable business model, it looks like the owners are finding other ways to make some money off the Web.

They registered the site on December 4th, just as the notices were due to start arriving, and were smart enough to tap into a potential customer base of 30 million—some of whom will invariably land on their page and click on some of their sponsored links.

They’ve already succeeded in luring one bad typist. Don’t let them fool you.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 03:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A friend of WebWatch recently forwarded us an e-mail she found disturbing—as do we. She’s a new Mother, and like many expectant women, she subscribed to BabyCenter, during her pregnancy. She’s still on BabyCenter’s mailing list, and just received this e-mail.

After reeling off some alarming statistics about the dangers of rotavirus – which just about every child will suffer through at some point in their lives – superimposed over the soft-focus image of distressed infant, the e-mail concludes with the warning “it happens to babies like yours,” and directs you to this site.

Although the site is identical in look and feel to the e-mail, there is one big difference, a banner ad that reads: “Where patients come first – Merck.”

“I am so annoyed by this email, which appears to be a message of editorial nature. It's not until you go to the site www.rotavirusinfo.com that you learn it's sponsored by big pharma,” our friend wrote.

Although BabyCenter is upfront in the e-mail (and on its site) that it may send you offers from BabyCenter and “partners,” we wonder how many people would follow the link if they knew it’s an ad from a pharmaceutical giant? BabyCenter itself is owned by pharmaceutical and baby product giant Johnson & Johnson, a fact the site could be a bit more transparent about.

“My pediatrician actually recommended against this vaccine because in his decades he's only had a few children contract the disease...but many more who have had bad reactions to the vaccine,” she added. “If a mother who doesn't understand the web/marketing universe receives this, she will likely think BabyCenter is endorsing the vaccine.”

Although the site contains links about the signs, symptoms and dangers of Rotovirus (Rotavirus causes gastroenteritis and diarrhea, and there is some danger of dehydration as a result, but fatalities occur most often in developing countries), there’s no mention anywhere of Merck’s vaccine—presumably because they want you to ask your doctor. The site also contains a ”Talking to Your Doctor About Rotovirus” page, which offers six questions, the last of which is: What can I do to help manage symptoms or complications if my child becomes infected?

The answer to that question is a Merck vaccine called Rotateq, and two safety alerts issued by the Food and Drug Administration in February and June may have something to do with her pediatrician’s recommendation to avoid it.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Good piece today on Ed Foster's GripeLog on spam, asking some important questions, among them: how long your personal profile remains in a company's database, even if you have opted out of its marketing e-mails?

Posted by Beau Brendler at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)