'Beautifulfilipinas.com' registered to US-based spammer

Contrary to earlier reports, there is no such website as Beautifulfilipinas.com. But the URL redirects you to a pornography site owned by one of the world's most notorious spammers, according to an online watchdog. Earlier this week, the Department of Tourism (DOT) unveiled its new "Pilipinas Kay Ganda!" campaign under the URL www.beautifulpilipinas.com, but was soon forced to deactivate the site because of complaints that the URL was too similar —just one letter away, in fact— to www.beatifulfilipinas.com, a supposed pornography site. Upon closer inspection, Beautifulfilipinas.com is not a stand-alone website. The URL is simply being used to redirect visitors to a different porn site. However, both domains are registered to the same company, Moniker Privacy Services, LLC in Pompano Beach, Florida, USA, according to independent online domain information service WhoIs. Furthermore, according to spam watchdog uribl.com, Moniker currently ranks fifth on its blacklist of domains that are known sources of spam worldwide. As of November 20, uribl.com warned that, of the 512 domains registered with Moniker, 240 or 47 percent "may contain malware, spyware, browser exploits, or other harmful code which can damage your system." Also according to WhoIs, Beautifulfilipinas.com has been registered to Moniker since 2002, but the domain will expire in February 2011. - DM, GMANews.TV