DomainLore Auction IU.co.uk - On domainlore £50 start no reserve.

[peter_w]

Here's a possible solution:

Require everyone who wants to bid to register a static IP with their domainlore bidding profile. ISPs that offer static IP addresses are available and some ISPs provide what I refer to as sticky-dynamic IP address. They only change when the router/cablemodem is replaced.

Domainlore staff can check the static IP at Ripe/Arin/etc to ensure it's not operated by a proxy service. Domainlore would only allow bidders to bid from their registered static IP addresses. A registered static IP address could only be associated with one domainlore bidding account.

Anyone who wanted to bid whilst being away from home would have to run VNC/logmein/RDC from their smartphone into a machine operating from their registered static IP address.

No static IP address, no bidding.

With auctions ending outside of office hours etc, this just wouldn't work. Besides which, I'm sure I'm not the only one who will have bid on and indeed won auctions from a 3G connection. Is anyone actually going to want to go the effort/expense of leaving PC's turned on at home to bid on a domain. Prices would just be driven even lower than they already are.

 

[Ashton]

http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/general-board/92010-iu-co-uk-auction-shill-bidding.html#post345024

 

[Silverz]

Perhaps you're right peter_w , I'm basing my opinions on the possibility that this was the only reason...if there is more evidence, then Ashley deserves being outed, and he should be ashamed of himself.

More evidence should be provided in situations like these, of course without DL's security measures being completely revealed.

 

[peter_w]

Read my post again. I suggested a solution for that; something I've been doing for over half a decade from my various smartphones.

Sorry I was a little hasty initially but I did edit almost as soon as I posted.

 

[Slater]

I'm guessing shill accounts are setup with anonymous email address (e.g. hotmail, google, [email protected] etc.). If the domainlore system only allowed registration from 'real' email addreses which have some traceability back to the company/individual which owns the domain name this would make it more difficult for shill bidders to operate.

 

[Aaron Clifford]

I think everyone is getting a bit too involved with the security of things, it's a tiny percentage of the auctions, probably 1% I imagine, It's been dealt with, rightfully so according to Ashton's version of events. Fair play to Denys for dealing with it swiftly.

 

[tifosi]

Sorry, got to disagree. Dealt with in a rank amateur way that typifies the wild-west nature of this industry.

Maybe it's late and I'm a grumpy old fart but I'm pretty pissed with this whole episode, the way it was overtly dealt with and the nature of the aftermath.

 

[Aaron Clifford]

Sorry, got to disagree. Dealt with in a rank amateur way that typifies the wild-west nature of this industry.

Maybe it's late and I'm a grumpy old fart but I'm pretty pissed with this whole episode, the way it was overtly dealt with and the nature of the aftermath.

I'd be annoyed by it if Denys was wrong, that doesn't seem to be the case. We all want a fair platform for auctions and this blatant public shaming should work as a deterrent for the minority that think it's acceptable to rip people off.

 

[Aaron Clifford]

If bidders demand the best protection from shills, end to end systems with better authentication need to be put in place. My suggestion goes a long way to offer that. Something that requires an investment in infrastructure will deter all but the most determined shill bidder.

I do agree with what your saying, but the security measures at the moment do appear to be working, as shown this evening?

 

[dotNetFreak]

I respect your opinion dotNetFreak, but other than system stats (which is no guarantee) I really can't see how ....only the company that Denys has given us (privatetunnel . com) could know 100%.

I don't know what techniques Denys employes, but I presume that his system is using multiple methods and looks at various metrics. Using something like privatetunnel.com doesn't guarantee anonymity.

I still feel if DomainLore would have had this flagged on signup, which really is in my opinion the best way to stop this type of thing from happening in the first place then it would avoid these types of issues. Stop the accounts being registered in the first place, before a bid can be made.

I agree, however some of the methods he is possibly using could end up flagging innocent people at the time of signup.

if someone wanted to stop this auction (or any auction on domainlore), or had something against Ashley for instance, then sign up through a proxy, make a bid which then raises the flag to stop the auction automatically ...

I doubt that that would stop an auction - I could be wrong, but I would expect Denys's system to be a little smarter than that

BTW: I'm only guessing at some of the techniques he is using or how I would do it, I don't actually know how sophisticated (or not) his system is.

I think the static IP solution, even just for auctions over £250, would go a long way to ensure bidder integrity.

It's unworkable...

I'm Joe Bloggs and happen to visit www.domain.co.uk to see who owns it, it's on auction at DomainLore, I sign up for an account, I go to bid, oops, I don't have a static IP address...

 

[GreyWing]

I'm Joe Bloggs and happen to visit www.domain.co.uk to see who owns it, it's on auction at DomainLore, I sign up for an account, I go to bid, oops, I don't have a static IP address...

Correct, you wouldn't know until the name had been lost if you were bidding last minute. Then people would be complaining they couldn't bid. It's always going to be a trade off between security and availability to bid.

 

[dotNetFreak]

Looks like Denys has changed the front page message.

A shill bidder was detected attempting to place a bid. Unlike most of those caught, he had a decency to confess and apologise.
I believe this is rare these days and has to grant him some of his lost respect back.

 

[Ashton]

Aaron, to answer you - they felt pressured to act to help me and thats my fault. They had the best intentions but have cost me a lot more than they would have 'saved' me.

I have asked admin to ban / remove me from the forum in whatever way he see's fit.

 

[newguy]

How about getting people to register an account by address? If you actually had to sign something and send it back to open an account it would at least be easy to keep track of who's who. Of course it'd be a big pain to go through that process and time consuming, but at least the accounts would always directly link back to real people and it would put off anyone making stupid last minute decisions (which is what this latest incidient appears to have been).

 

[GreyWing]

How about getting people to register an account by address? If you actually had to sign something and send it back to open an account it would at least be easy to keep track of who's who. Of course it'd be a big pain to go through that process and time consuming, but at least the accounts would always directly link back to real people and it would put off anyone making stupid last minute decisions (which is what this latest incidient appears to have been).

I think Denys uses mobile phones to verify accounts, I don't know if he still does as I haven't registered an account recently

 

[Pred]

well, if this other person is a member of acorn they need to be stepping up to the plate and handing in their notice

there were quite a few people, myself included, who gave you the benefit of the doubt Ashton
all this does is waste peoples time and make them more cynical for the future

best you resign your commission
put it down to experience

 

[GreyWing]

How easy is it to get fistfulls of PAYG SIMs for nothing?

That is true I suppose

 

[dotNetFreak]

You're right. In that scenario they wouldn't be able to bid. How many people currently stumble upon a domain name on auction and bid vs regular bidders? Perhaps require static IPs for bidding over £250.

I agree more than likely a very very small percentage, but the chance is always there.

Whichever way you dice it by requiring static IP addresses you are reducing the potential buyers and creating hassle for users and administration for DomainLore.

 

[rob]

To me there is a difference between having a chat with a mate about bikes or whatever and auctions and some dunce registering to DL and bumping a bid thinking they are 'helping', to someone using same laptop or the like, using privatetunnel etc and specifically setting out to defraud and avoid being caught.

I could be reading it wrong but your post does hint more at the idiot-trying-to-help rather than the latter more calculated approach, but using privatetunnel is quite precise.

Can you give clarity? No reason to, just me being nosey and wondering

 

[dta]

I think Denys uses mobile phones to verify accounts, I don't know if he still does as I haven't registered an account recently

he does do that indeed - i've registered an account very recently! a bit like remembering i reg'd on here a few years ago and then forgot about it