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www.stopsylviabrowne.com hacked?

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The site was not hacked. The content was not lost.

There are people looking into this in California.

Everyone calm down, it should be fixed in a couple of days, though we may need to start using a different URL for the site.

So skeptical webmasters and bloggers: get ready to fix your links.
 
krelnik said:
Everyone calm down, it should be fixed in a couple of days, though we may need to start using a different URL for the site.

So skeptical webmasters and bloggers: get ready to fix your links.
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It's not just the domain that will be lost. The Google-placement is much more valuable.

Hopefully the domain has not fallen into malicious hands.
 
Trouble is, caught for what? If the site lapsed, picking it up is trivial, and done all the time. Robert has no more claim on the site than Sylvia does, beyond his having originated the name and paid the fee; if it lapsed while he was ill, there's likely not much that can be done about it. This is not classic cybersquatting; the site is not anyone's registered name (unless Robert incorporated, which I doubt). Someone - and I blame myself as much as anyone for not bringing the subject up; heaven knows I thought about it - should have been looking after it. If the owner is "cool", perhaps we can buy it back, but with the traffic it had going to it I imagine that might be steep. We're lucky its not a porno site by now.

Let this be a lesson - no one knows the hour or the day (sorry for the biblical reference there). Get your affairs in order, and make sure they have continuity when you fail, as ultimately you must. Gees, where's my passwords file?

Recovering the pages is not a problem; I'm sure Robert has them on his home computer, just as I have one for the sites I webmaster. The problem, as erlando points out, is the site name itself and it's search recognition. Perhaps Google might help out? It would be nice to know if that's possible.
 
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geni said:
You think this whois detail is real?

http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIs.aspx?domain=stopsylviabrowne.com&prog_id=godaddy
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What do you mean? The detail is real; that list of names are suggestions to the user about the domains "near" stopsylviabrowne.com that aren't yet registered by anyone. Ever hear of suggestion selling? GoDaddy (and others) do that all the time. All those domain names are available (as of the time of the page grab); no one owns them yet. $9.99 is godaddy's standing price for one year of any .com domain.
 
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erlando said:
It's not just the domain that will be lost. The Google-placement is much more valuable.

Hopefully the domain has not fallen into malicious hands.
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Good point about Google searches, erlando.

As to the "hands", fingerprints look like a competing psychic's or psychic service who want to cast doubt on SB but not psychics in general, hoping to attract some of her disgruntled clients. New text's wording suggests either semi-literacy or ESL:

splash_page said:
Her best psychic act was accused of being a psychic fraud when her accounts of what was going to happen or what had already happened didn’t go as it was told by the psychic fraud. This best psychic never was so there is no need for never more.
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:confused: && if I might add... yuck. :mad:
 
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shadron said:
What do you mean? The detail is real; that list of names are suggestions to the user about the domains "near" stopsylviabrowne.com that aren't yet registered by anyone. Ever hear of suggestion selling? GoDaddy (and others) do that all the time. All those domain names are available (as of the time of the page grab); no one owns them yet. $9.99 is godaddy's standing price for one year of any .com domain.
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The domain is regestered in the name Boris kreiman the chess player. I can't find any references to him being interested in psychics and the like outside of the lifepsychic website. So is it the real Boris kreiman who has registered.
 
geni said:
The domain is regestered in the name Boris kreiman the chess player. I can't find any references to him being interested in psychics and the like outside of the lifepsychic website. So is it the real Boris kreiman who has registered.
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Who knows? The registrars do not demand any proof of identity; all you need is an email address and a working credit card (could be in any other name, as there is no deliveries to be made) and you own the domain. They also have domain ownership hiding as a extra-cost option, but that apparenly wasn't purchased in his case. It might be some other Boris Kreiman, or it might be Sylvia's son - there's no way of knowing (correction - there's no way for me (and I suppose you) to know - what a real cyber-detective might find out, who knows?)
 
Yup, I hate to say it but the domain is gone - the guy will want thousands to return it, yadda yadda, its same ol' same ol'.

I just wonder how much stock the is of the merchandise?
 
Actually, that might be an avenue worth exploring. It's against ICANN rules to register under a false name. If you can cast doubt on the registration, then it could be declared null and void and throw back into the pool. I think. My domain ownership knowledge dulled a bit over the summer.
 
devnull said:
Yup, I hate to say it but the domain is gone - the guy will want thousands to return it, yadda yadda, its same ol' same ol'.

I just wonder how much stock the is of the merchandise?
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Was it a transfer or did it expire, then?
 
erlando said:
It's not just the domain that will be lost. The Google-placement is much more valuable.
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blobru said:
Good point about Google searches, erlando.
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I would not worry about that much. Most of Robert's inbound links are from skeptical websites. That's *us*.

We put him up next to sylvia's site the first time, we can do it again. And if we are diligent and make sure to fix all old links, the old domain will drop in the rankings just as surely.
 
If it were a 'normal' domain squatter, wouldn't they have added adverts etc. ASAP, and likely an offer to sell? - to maximise earnings. And normally they're competent enough to tick the 'privacy' box ;)

Even if they're within their rights to register the domain, the butchered text on the site is largely copyright of RSL, isn't it?

ETA: the dates seem odd. Registered Aug 06, expires Aug 09, but updated on Oct 23rd. If registration had just lapsed, wouldn't that have been in August?
 
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devnull said:
My guess would be that it expired and some squatter grabbed it. Happened to me once. Although usually domains like this point to a "this domain for sale!" site, not a hacked up version of the original site......
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I don't think so. The dates for record creation and expiration are not in line with an expiration and renewal. It very much looks like a transfer.
 
I'm not computer smart - the idea of someone doing this just makes me sick. Just wondering: Would it help for someone who is computer savvy among us to check to make sure no one steals any other Stop Sylvia Browne possible address/names in the meantime (stopsylvia.com, or whatever other options there might be), or those like StopFlimFlam, StopJohnEdward, that we know he was maintaining for his future sites?
 
No way!

I feel as though my baby has been butchered.

Just when you thought that Robert couldn't have more to worry about when he's ready to return to his life and his every day routine. :(
 
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