Is Providing Accurate Whois Info Really That Important?
from the just-wondering dept
Yesterday, Carlo noted that lots of folks were rushing to lay claim to the sex.eu domain name -- but how many do you think handed out fake personal info? A concern of the US government for years has been that people didn't have accurate info associated with domains that they owned -- even to the point that ICANN once said they would start deleting domain names with false contact info. The US government has been studying the matter, and has concluded that 2.31 million domain names have been registered with "patently false" information. Another 1.64 million had "incomplete information." Of course, this is all based on a sample size of... 900 -- so some might argue about whether that's a fair sample. Still, is this really (a) surprising or (b) that bad? There are two main reasons why it's happening. First, the whois database has long been a great source for spammers. Having info there means you're going to get spam and snail mail junk mail -- so it's no wonder that people put in false info. Second, keeping that info up-to-date is a pain if you move regularly. Many people set it up and then never change it -- not thinking it's very important. That's because it's not very important. Meanwhile, with firms that claim to offer "anonymous" domain registration freely giving up your personal info, isn't it just easier for people to fake it? Why is it so important to provide accurate information to register a domain name?
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I want a telephone, but I don't want my phone number posted in the public telephone books... for the same reasons that wouldnt want any of my information posted to the public internet whois.
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Why it's so important to provide accurate contact
it's a domain or an ASN or something else -- means
that the person(s) involved are not merely using
the Internet, they are *operating* the Internet.
That requires taking full personal responsibility.
Anyone who isn't up to that does not deserve the
privilege of running (a part of) our Internet.
(Note carefully: I have no problem with anonymous
*use* of the Internet; in fact, I fully support it. But "use" != "operation" and those who do
not fully comprehend the difference should not
be permitted the privilege of doing the latter.
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Re: Why it's so important to provide accurate cont
One performs a function and the other exercises authoritative or dominating influence over.
Why should the one performing the function, be limited to how that function is done when in fact, those who operate the internet have no dominating control over it's existence.
...semantics are wonderful, aren't they!
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No Subject Given
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No Subject Given
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No Subject Given
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Of course they want you to register...
Sorry, that's the cynic in me coming out.
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"anonymous" registration is a myth, anyway + a spa
registration is no such thing, right?
That anyone armed with appropriate legal authority
can lay their hands on it -- probably without
notice to you?
That your registrar -- and thus their employees --
have access to your "real" data. What stops them
from selling it, in bulk, to...anyone? What stops
their employees from selling it under the table?
And how good do you think their security is? Do
you think it's good enough to defeat everyone who
might have an interest in acquiring that data?
If you do, what basis do you have for that belief?
"anonymous" registration merely presents the
facade of privacy; it's really nothing of the kind.
As to spam: yes, registering a domain and putting
your real address on it may expose you to (more)
spam. If you have decent anti-spam measures in
place, then this shouldn't be an issue. Consider
it part of the cost of having a domain, and if you
don't like paying that cost, then do your part to
stop spam -- because it benefits all of us.
If you can't handle that, then you're probably not
ready to be a (partial) operator of the Internet.
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Accountability
I good example of this is the wikipedia and other open source movements. When more than one voice can be used to discribe a problem or a solution, we ultimately all gain from a more complete answer.
If we can all see the person responsible for a website, we all have a better chance of getting our message across. for example: I love your website, but I don't love your spam.
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