On looking up information on the No2ID campaign to see how they started up, I came across the web site www.no2id.co.uk which is entitled “History of NO2ID campaigning organisation. This is a informational website about No2ID campaigning organisation.”

“Oh, wow,” I thought. “Everything I need to know.”

Nope. It is not what it says. It has been set up to advertise web sites selling id cards, digital access control, search engine optimisation services, web hosting, army recruitment, and biometric services. That’s right, selling exactly what the No2ID campaign is opposed to. But they have done it by taking text from the No2ID campaign and knocking up a fake site to do it.

What cynical buggers. (A WHOIS lookup will tell you who the cynical bugger is. The same cynical bugger it links to as a SEO Consultant.  As he says: “He is a member of Nominet, a TAG holder and well known and respected in the UK domain industry.”  Not well-respected by me!)

Conclusion: always register the alternative domain names – if you don’t some toe-rag parasite will and may even use them to actively campaign against you and make money as they do it, using your marketing effort in the process.

Amazing.