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Comment by mdasen | Hacker News Reader

A lot of this is merely price discrimination. Some people won't find out about cheaper certificates and will pay lots more money for something from GeoTrust. GeoTrust actually owns RapidSSL (http://www.rapidssl.com/ssl-certificate-about/index.htm). NameCheap is reselling those RapidSSL branded certificates for less than RapidSSL.com is selling them. RapidSSL.com is, in turn, selling certificates for less than GeoTrust. And they're all signed by the Equifax root certificate!

Single root certificates are a better option and the RapidSSL certificate that NameCheap is selling for $10 is single root and run and signed by the same people as GeoTrust. Do go with a single root as it makes life easier.

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"GeoTrust actually owns RapidSSL (http://www.rapidssl.com/ssl-certificate-about/index.htm). NameCheap is reselling those RapidSSL branded certificates for less than RapidSSL.com is selling them. RapidSSL.com is, in turn, selling certificates for less than GeoTrust. And they're all signed by the Equifax root certificate!"

Crazy! I'm glad I asked here first.

Namecheap offers free PositiveSSL certificates, as well as a free whois masking option. You must register or transfer a domain there to get it, but it's not tied to the domain you buy, so you could buy a new domain and use the free cert on an older one.

Don't use whois masking services, it effectively gives a third party ownership of the domain in question and most certainly does violate the ICANN rules about truthful and accurate registration information.

I've used whois protection services for years (and for thousands of domains), there's never been a problem for me.

When the whois protection service is provided by the registrar you used to register the domain, how is that third party ownership? They already have a lot of control over the domain.

I don't know about ICANN rules on the matter, however I think they would have pressured registrars to stop offering such services, if that was the case.

If you have further information/links on the subject, please elaborate.

http://www.dynadot.com/resource/article/qa.html?aid=0

TL;DR: you can do it, but understand the risks you are taking. The whois record is the authoritative record of domain ownership, if your name (or company name) isn't on it, then if there is a dispute, you lose.

That post uses Domains by Proxy as an example, which is an awful service. Towards the end of the article, Dynadot explains the whois protection service THEY offer themselves. That's what Namecheap (and other registrars) does and it's what I've always used.

I can tell you for a fact that I receive a lot less email spam at the email address I use for whois, because Namecheap changes the address (which forwards to mine) listed every other day. Also I don't get any snail mail junk, although this was never a big issue.

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