The Producers: November 2008

Classic old article about Intercosmos...

Squatters Exposed!
by anonymous

I had my domain name stolen by squatters.  Now, before you start
complaining that I should have renewed it if I wanted to keep it, let me
explain.  When your domain expires, it goes into a redemption period where
it can be renewed. In my case, the redemption period was cut short and I
was unable to renew my domain.  My domain was stolen by a group of squatters
who also happen to be spammers, pornographers, and domain registrars.  How this
group became domain registrars is beyond me.

Now, before I get ahead of myself, a little background information and some
detective work:

This is the relevant whois data from my domain:

Sponsoring Registrar:Intercosmos Media Group Inc. (R48-LROR)
Registrant ID:ODN-676871
Registrant Name:Orion Web
Registrant Organization:Orion Web
Registrant Street1:1st Floor Muya House
Registrant Street2:Kenyatta Ave.
Registrant Street3:p. o. box 4276-30100
Registrant City:Eldoret
Registrant State/Province:KE
Registrant Postal Code:30100
Registrant Country:KE
Registrant Phone:+254.0735434737
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:info@kenyatech.com

The admin and tech contacts are the same as above.

Name Server:NS0.DIRECTNIC.COM
Name Server:NS1.DIRECTNIC.COM

This shows that a company called Orion Web in Kenya, Africa now owns my
domain. Pulling up the web page for my domain shows a page filled with ads,
with a "Click here to buy this domain" button that leads to
www.kenyatech.com, the company that now owns my domain name.  They also own lots
of other domain names. Lots and lots, in the range of 140,000 or more.

Kenyatech claims that they're located in Kenya, Africa.  They also accept
PayPal.  Paypal does not do business with firms located in Kenya.  Using
GeoBytes reports that the ip address for www.kenyatech.com, 209.16.83.2,
is located in Larose, Louisiana.  Looking up the same address in the ARIN
database shows this IP is assigned to I-55 Internet Services in Hammond,
Louisiana.

A little research on the www.kenyatech.com site, browsing through all the
domains, shows a few patterns.  The oldest dated domain I could find
registered to them was in August of 2004.  The most current I could find
was August 23 2005, a week before this writing.  Most are registerd to
kenyatech, but some of the older ones are registered to:

NOLDC, Inc.
838 Camp Street
4th Floor
New Orleans, LA 70130
US
504-523-0360

Some of the domains are registered to Domain Contender, with the majority
being registered through InterCosmos Media Group, DBA directnic.com.
Curious about where they're from?  They're both owned by the same people,
and the address is:

650 Poydras Street
Suite 1150
New Orleans, LA 70130
US
(504) 679-5170

Is it just me, or is there a pattern developing with all these Louisiana
addresses??  The Camp Street address and the Poydras street address are
within blocks of each other.

I filled out a form on www.kenyatech.com offering to buy the domain for $50.
This offer was turned down. They instead suggested that I pay $300 plus a $30
fee, according to the following:

Hello,

NOLDC, Inc. accepts wire, money order or certified or cashiers check
(international checks please add an additional US$50 processing fee) only.

Checks and money orders must be made payable to NOLDC, Inc., and sent to:

NOLDC, Inc.
838 Camp St., 4th Floor
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130

NOLDC, Inc. Wire Information
(Note: Please be sure to add wire fees to final price of domain purchase.
Also, be sure to include the domain name that you are purchasing in the
Additional Information Section.)
Wire Fees for US Banks is $10.00
Wire Fees for Banks outside of the US is $50.00

Bank: Hibernia Bank
2412 Manhattan Blvd
Harvey, La 70058
USA

ABA#: 065000090
Account#: 2080083613
Swift Code: HIBKUS44

Beneficiary: NOLDC, Inc.
650 Poydras St Ste 1150
New Orleans, La 70130
USA

Sincerely-
NOLDC, Inc.


This links the Camp Street address with the Poydras Street address, by their own
admission.  Now, who owns Intercosmos a.k.a directnic.com, who owns Domain
Contenders, and who owns NOLDC, Inc?  A man by the name of Sigmund Solares.  I
suspect that kenyatech.com is also owned by Sigmund Solares, given all the
evidence provided above.  Sigmund Solares has a history of domain squatting, and
a history of hiding behind non-existant entities for the purpose of hiding his
squatting.  This WIPO arbitration decision clearly outlines this:

Complainant claims that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests
in the disputed domain name. According to Complainant, this conclusion is
suggested by Respondent's name: "Legal Services." Additionally, based on
an investigation conducted by Complainant, Complainant claims that Legal
Services is a fictitious identity adopted for the sole purpose of
registering the disputed domain name. According to the investigation report
there is no business by the name of Legal Services at the address listed in the
.biz Whois database. Further, there is no business by the name of Legal Services
at the address provided in the registration information. The only business
listing found at that address is a business called "Ingrid's Beauty Salon."
Likewise, the telephone number listed in the .biz Whois database is the number
for an individual named "Sigmund Solares" who claims that he is not affiliated
with Respondent. In fact, according to Complainant, Sigmund Solares is a
principal in and primary contact for the Registrar of Respondent's domain name.
Based on the above, Complainant asserts that Respondent has taken active steps
to conceal its true identity and provided false contact details in connection
with its domain name registration. Complainant concludes that the use of false
and misleading contact information suggests that the domain name was registered
for improper purposes.

Complainant also asserts that the fact that its trademark has a strong
reputation and is widely known is further support of Respondent's bad faith.
Finally, Complainant notes that the administrative, billing and technical
contacts for the registration is Joseph Tambert whose e-mail address is
listed as "josephtambert@homeville.com". Complainant states that the
website at  is a pornographic website. Thus, Complainant
claims that a risk exists that Complainant's valuable and well-known
trademark and service mark will be associated with a pornographic site and
will be tarnished as a result.

SOURCE:
http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/decisions/html/2002/dbiz2002-00190.html

Joseph Tambert may be Sigmund's partner.  This is his address:

Joseph Tambert
838 Camp Street
New Orleans

Notice the Camp Street?  Sigmund and Joseph are linked together on the
whois info for fbi.biz, as well as the above arbitration case.  Joseph's
email address, as explained in the above WIPO arbitration quote, links to
a pornographic website.  Sigmund's email, as listed on the whois for
sigmundsolares.com, also points to a porn site.  This group has had IP
addresses blocked for sending spam.  They have a history of domain
squatting.  How the hell did they become domain registrars?

As domain registrars, this gives them access to the whois database.  I
believe that they use that access to aquire a list of domains entering the
expiration period.  They would then be able to flag that domain as being
under their control, allowing them to transfer ownership to the Kenyatech
entity and cutting short the redemption period.

There is also evidence that suggests they abuse the whois database.  The
whois database is used to find information on a domain name, including if
it is available for purchase.  They may have access to what names are
looked up, and if it is available, and there is evidence to suggest that
they register these names for themselves before others have a chance to.

They also have a script on every domain they own, to judge the domain's
popularity.  This script stores its data on a machine owned by
directnic.com.  The more popular sites have to pay more money to buy the
domain back.  I have seen less popular sites go for as little as $50, and
I've seen some offers of a thousand dollars turned down.  The more popular
sites are renewed, and the less popular are allowed to expire.  Being
domain registrars, they might not have had to pay anything to aquire the
144,000+ domains they own.

So, what can you do?  If your domain was snatched, by all means don't
visit it or the kenyatech web site.  Hopefully it will be allowed to
expire.  Contact anyone linking to your website, and have them change the
link.  If you have a popular domain, your only hope may be to go through
arbitration, or sue.  There is a class action lawsuit being organized by
rederon.net.  Complain to ICANN.org, and hopefully we can have their
domain registrar status revoked.  By all means, don't pay them and support
their bad habits!

Don't forget to call and say "hey" to the owners:

Registrar Name: INTERCOSMOS MEDIA GROUP, INC. D/B/A DIRECTNIC.COM
Address: 650 Poydras Street Suite 1150, New Orleans, LA 70130, US
Phone Number: 504-679-5170
Email: sig@intercosmos.com
Whois Server: whois.directnic.com
Referral URL: www.directnic.com
Admin Contact: Sigmund J. Solares
Phone Number: 504-274-2106
Email: sig@intercosmos.com
Admin Contact: Donny C. Simonton
Phone Number: 504-679-5170
Email: donny@intercosmos.com
Admin Contact: Michael . Brunson
Phone Number: 504-473-6643
Email: brunson@intercosmos.com
Billing Contact: Butch . Decossas
Phone Number: 504-679-5170
Email: CFO@intercosmos.com
Billing Contact: Michael . Brunson
Phone Number: 504-473-6643
Email: brunson@intercosmos.com
Technical Contact: Donny C. Simonton
Phone Number: 504-679-5170
Email: donny@intercosmos.com
Technical Contact: Don . Moore
Phone Number: 504-679-5170
Email: bboy@bboy.net
Technical Contact: Christian Burck
Phone Number: 813-386-2823
Email: cburck@intercosmos.com
Technical Contact: Michael . Brunson
Phone Number: 504-473-6643
Email: brunson@intercosmos.com

The Producers

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving to Those Producers

Monday, November 10, 2008

Belize Domain WHOIS Service Lt.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Classic Intercosmos

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