I use wordpress so I installed Akismet. It has blocked every spam comment that has come in...

I think $50 per month for their Enterprise API Key is too steep for me. Thanks for the reference though.

Spam for anything on the internet is an ongoing pain, short of hiding emails and details in images or simply not showing data there is no magical cure... as far as whois is concerned for a business use a real email but impose heavy spam rules (filters) and potentially skim occasionally the junk box, anyone who intends to contact you officially i would imagine would navigate to your site and use another method (ticket/live etc)

As far as wordpress goes Steve, you should have an update or check your enabled modules - there is a default spam protection that you enable and link in to your account ID that is provided by wordpress (full instructions on the mod), should be installed but disabled by default - Saved me about 20 emails a day worth of wordpress comment spam have yet to get a single spam mail.

It was free...I didn't pay 50$..a friend installed it for me..Wordpress has it on the dashboard for auto install.

Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with using WHOIS Privacy, even if you're a business. As long as you clearly display all your contact info on your website, though.

I mean, lets face it... The average customer is not going to do a WHOIS check on your domain. But, every spammer, indentity thief and fraudster will. So, you might as well make them go to your site to get the info.

Yes if you pay a little extra you can keep it private. I think it's against the law to put fake information there. Or at least thats' what I was told.

I personally keep all of my whois info protected with domain privacy. I have catchall email address setup, so if someone wants to contact me about a domain I own, they should be smart enough to email me.

Most domain privacy features are free these days. Problem is when someone wants to get a hold of you and its legitimate and you have no contact information on your website. Lost sale or legitimate opportunity.

OK, I have created a new email address and put it in all my domains' Whois. So, we will see how much spam in generates. I will report to you guys as soon as I receive some spam. Btw, I won't give this address to anyone so I can be sure emails would be spam.

More then sure you will not have any spam as that email is spam bots protected (the one which is shown on the domaintools)
Cheers

I like privacy because of possible identity theft and domain theft. I'm thinking about using a leased mail box at a physical address and a dedicated email address. I'm not sure if I could just use my initials as the name.

I think if you are considering some business on your web site your info should be public, but if you don't want to show it for some reason use private registration. I don't see why people enter false info.