Advice Please

[Kinembe]

one of my competitors(the dominant web presence in our field) is upset with my measley little web sites that hardly ever get seen and this little guy has resorted to signing me up to various mailing lists. now every day i am getting more and more junk mail and mailing list confirmation emails.

how do i handle this little turd? is there anybody or orginazation i can report this to?

there is no doubt that it is this guy, he called me about a week ago right after i put up a new site and acused me of copying everything he does because we both have some of the same search phrases. when i laughed at him he said "uh, uhhm, well ok then, you just wait..." then i hung up, then the next day i started getting these emails and he is also filling out the information request forms on my pages with phony names and emails.

a real littly sissy baby he is, but how do i fight back and not spend the night in jail for lumping this guy up?

[mike]

Well, if it's just ONE night... I'd probably opt for the lumping. Maybe a few whacks with a radiator hose will do the trick.

Failing that, you could trash the old email address and start using a contact form on your site. Not the best solution, but it would probably do the trick. Another option might be to contact his ISP as I'm sure he's breaking some of their terms of use with his shenanigans.

[Dubbya]

Check your server logs to see who was on the site when the phony info was sent then block the IP address.

Using contact forms would also help. You could include the user's IP address in a hidden form field that gets sent along with each form submission, then tell the user that their IP address has been logged.

As Mike said, change your email address.

Contact your host to have them set up spam filters on your email accounts.

.02

[Kinembe]

the website uses a form and i know i can block him from the site, but the real pain in the arse is that he is signing up my personal email for these mailing lists. aparently he got my email when i replied to the info he submitted on the form.

and yeah, one night wouldn't be too bad, except i'm here in costa rica where you can disapear in one night.

how would i find his isp provider?

[Dubbya]

Do a "whois" domain lookup at:
Allwhois.com - whois domain name search & lookup

This should give you the registrant's name, contact information and address along with the website host.

At any rate, even if the information seems rather anonymous or if it's privacy protected, you should still find a contact email address or telephone number for the hosting provider whereby you can contact them. They'll take care of the rest.

Before you contact the hosting provider, be prepared to provide some background information and documented proof to substantiate your claims. Copies of any communications, emails sent or received, etc.

It will be hard to pass up on the immediate gratification you'd no doubt glean from administering a sound thrashing with a rubber hose, but keep on taking the high road on this. Be professional in your communications and reasonable in your requests and you'll make some progress.

Stick to the high road.

Good Luck.

[Martinscholes]

Do a "whois" domain lookup at:
Allwhois.com - whois domain name search & lookup

This should give you the registrant's name, contact information and address along with the website host.

At any rate, even if the information seems rather anonymous or if it's privacy protected, you should still find a contact email address or telephone number for the hosting provider whereby you can contact them. They'll take care of the rest.

Before you contact the hosting provider, be prepared to provide some background information and documented proof to substantiate your claims. Copies of any communications, emails sent or received, etc.

It will be hard to pass up on the immediate gratification you'd no doubt glean from administering a sound thrashing with a rubber hose, but keep on taking the high road on this. Be professional in your communications and reasonable in your requests and you'll make some progress.

Stick to the high road.

Good Luck.

I agree. Also, if you have his name, run it through several search engines. You will not be the first he has done this to, you will not be the last, either.

[Kinembe]

thanks guys, i'll get started on that and see what i can get done.