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The DNS hole is why I addressed domain registration with the statement:
        Register your domain in a country that doesn't care at all, or supports your form of bizarreness.

I think it's a good idea to understand the different links in any system, especially if you're going to rely on it for communicating an important message. I'm not making a point in favor for, or against, refusing service to people (suppression?) but saying that if you ask yourself "Hey, would it be useful for someone to suppress my message?" and the answer is "yes" it might make sense to take some basic precautions. Such as not 100% relying on a otherwhere cloud-magical host that can turn you off immediately.

There are some basic, basic precautions people can take to provide high fidelity web services. Having domain registration with GoDaddy and then running your website through WordPress.com is not what I would consider taking those precautions. There are something like 400 registrars that can be used to register a domain. GoDaddy and Google are two of them. If they don't want your business, someone else will.

That's all I'm saying. I don't really worry too much about the free speech implications, censorship, suppression, moral superiority, terrorism, warm fuzzies, two wrongs making a right, means-ends, ends-means, or basically anything related to that. If you want to keep your website running, don't rely on super entry level technologies, and registration companies that are going to bow to U.S. political pressure at the drop of a hat.

Explaining virtually every spear phishing plan ever run on people for the last 20 years proves nothing. Who-is data for the domain they claim responsible is registered in France, not Russia. Registered to one "sacko.fatou17@yahoo.fr". Domain created 22FEB2012 and expires on 22FEB17. I'll paste more below just in case, but neither the name or the address of the registrant relate to Russia. Fatou is an older family name in France. You want to convince me it's Russian they need to do better than common knowledge. They make it sound like copying a Google page is hard, when in fact it's as simple as "save-as" and downloading a couple of pictures from the same source.

Domain Name: GOOGLE-ACCOUNT.COM
Registry Domain ID: 1703474033_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.register.it
Registrar URL: http://we.register.it/
Updated Date: 2016-03-26T00:00:00Z
Creation Date: 2012-02-22T00:00:00Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2017-02-22T00:00:00Z
Registrar: REGISTER.IT S.P.A.
Registrar IANA ID: 168
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse[at]register.it
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +39.0353230310
Reseller:
Domain Status: ok
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Google-Account
Registrant Organization: Google-Account
Registrant Street: 12 Allée des Noisetiers
Registrant City: St denis en val
Registrant State/Province: Haut-Rhin
Registrant Postal Code: 45160
Registrant Country: FR
Registrant Phone: +33.489750045
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email:
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Google Account
Admin Organization: Google Account
Admin Street: 12 Allée des Noisetiers
Admin City: St denis en val
Admin State/Province: Haut-Rhin
Admin Postal Code: 45160
Admin Country: FR
Admin Phone: +33.489750045
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email:
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Technical Support
Tech Organization: AMEN.FR
Tech Street: 12-14, Rond Point des Champs Elysees
Tech City: PARIS
Tech State/Province: PARIS
Tech Postal Code: 75008
Tech Country: FR
Tech Phone: +33.811887744
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax: +33.140877689
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email:
Name Server: NS1.AMENWORLD.COM
Name Server: NS2.AMENWORLD.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/

By the way, here is a link to the Root Zone file if you want to see what it is.

There is also is a human readable version here.

Liar:
Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

No match for "CONCRETEBALLOONANIMALS.COM".
>>> Last update of whois database: Tue, 30 Jun 2015 14:46:12 GMT <<<

You may be correct sir:

[Querying whois.verisign-grs.com]
[Redirected to whois.schlund.info]
[Querying whois.schlund.info]
[whois.schlund.info]
Domain Name: gmx.com
Registry Domain ID:
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.1und1.info
Registrar URL: http://1and1.com/
Updated Date: 2014-05-08 00:00:00
Creation Date: 1994-05-07 00:00:00
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2015-05-08 00:00:00
Registrar: 1&1 Internet AG
Registrar IANA ID: 83
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@1and1.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone:
Reseller:
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Jan Oetjen
Registrant Organization: 1&1 Mail & Media Inc.
Registrant Street: 701 Lee Rd.
Registrant City: Chesterbrook
Registrant State/Province: PA
Registrant Postal Code: 19087
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.8774612631
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax: +1.6105601501
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: hostmaster@schlund.de
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Jan Oetjen
Admin Organization: 1&1 Mail & Media Inc.
Admin Street: 701 Lee Rd.
Admin City: Chesterbrook
Admin State/Province: PA
Admin Postal Code: 19087
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.8774612631
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax: +1.6105601501
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: hostmaster@schlund.de
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Jan Oetjen
Tech Organization: 1&1 Mail & Media Inc.
Tech Street: 701 Lee Rd.
Tech City: Chesterbrook
Tech State/Province: PA
Tech Postal Code: 19087
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.8774612631
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax: +1.6105601501
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: hostmaster@schlund.de
Name Server: ns-gmx.ui-dns.de
Name Server: ns-gmx.ui-dns.biz
Name Server: ns-gmx.ui-dns.com
Name Server: ns-gmx.ui-dns.org
DNSSEC: Unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/

Avoid using whois on registrar sites to check availability. It's trivial for them to hijack that info and then allow someone else to see what domains people have been checking, so they can pre-emptively register them.

The best way is to check the TLD server directly, using "dig"

Failing that, use a real whois client (NOT anything web-based)

$ dig thisdomaindoesnotexist.com ns

; <<>> DiG 9.8.4-rpz2+rl005.12-P1 <<>> thisdomaindoesnotexist.com ns
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 39567
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;thisdomaindoesnotexist.com. IN NS

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:

com. 899 IN SOA a.gtld-servers.net. nstld.verisign-grs.com. 1405884613 1800 900 604800 86400

;; Query time: 178 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.1.1#53(192.168.1.1)
;; WHEN: Sun Jul 20 15:31:01 2014
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 117

$ whois thisdomaindoesnotexist.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

No match for "THISDOMAINDOESNOTEXIST.COM".
>>> Last update of whois database: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 19:30:55 UTC <<<

is hackoverpricedswedishflatpackfurniture.com already taken?

If it is maybe IkeaGoFuckYourself.com is available....

Whois Server Version 2.0 Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/ for detailed information. No match for "IKEAGOFUCKYOURSELF.COM". >>> Last update of whois database: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 21:23:27 UTC

Yep, go buy it if you think you can do something constructive with it.

"giantbuttplugs.info" he said, using it as a metasyntactic variable.

So I says to myself, "who the fuck would register that?" Then I says to myself, "it's the internet, someone must be using it." .gov, .info, .org, .mil, .net are all available.

The .com is taken.

Domain Name: giantbuttplugs.com
Registry Domain ID:
Registrar URL: http://www.fabulous.com/
Updated Date: 2013-06-30T17:14:35Z
Creation Date: 2006-08-16T02:14:40Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2014-08-16T00:00:00Z
Registrar: FABULOUS.COM PTY LTD.
Registrar IANA ID: 411
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@fabulous.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +61.730070015
Reseller: N/A
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID: N/A
Registrant Name: Domain Admin
Registrant Organization: Sunlane Media LLC
Registrant Street: PO Box 231789
Registrant City: Encinitas
Registrant State/Province: CA
Registrant Postal Code: 92024
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.877 849 6203
Registrant Phone Ext: N/A
Registrant Fax: +1.877 849 6203
Registrant Fax Ext: N/A
Registrant Email: fabulous@sunlane.com
Registry Admin ID: N/A
Admin Name: Domain Admin
Admin Organization: Sunlane Media LLC
Admin Street: PO Box 231789
Admin City: Encinitas
Admin State/Province: CA
Admin Postal Code: 92024
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.877 849 6203
Admin Phone Ext: N/A
Admin Fax: +1.877 849 6203
Admin Fax Ext: N/A
Admin Email: fabulous@sunlane.com
Registry Tech ID: N/A
Tech Name: Domain Admin
Tech Organization: Sunlane Media LLC
Tech Street: PO Box 231789
Tech City: Encinitas
Tech State/Province: CA
Tech Postal Code: 92024
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.877 849 6203
Tech Phone Ext: N/A
Tech Fax: +1.877 849 6203
Tech Fax Ext: N/A
Tech Email: fabulous@sunlane.com
Name Server: ns1.fabulous.com
Name Server: ns2.fabulous.com
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2014-01-26T13:00:00Z

The .com expires in August, you can probably snap it up then.

--
BMO

Just use the geektools whois:
http://www.geektools.com/whois.php

Domain Name: STARTPAGE.COM
Registry Domain ID:
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.networksolutions.com
Registrar URL: http//www.networksolutions.com/en_US/
Updated Date: 2012-05-31
Creation Date: 1997-10-11
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2018-10-10
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
Registrar IANA ID: 2
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@web.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: 1-800-333-7680
Reseller:
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: SURFBOARD HOLDING B.V
Registrant Organization: SURFBOARD HOLDING B.V
Registrant Street: ATTN insert domain name here care of Network Solutions PO Box 459
Registrant City: Drums
Registrant State: PA
Registrant Postal Code: 18222
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: 570-708-8780
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Email:
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Beens, Robert
Admin Organization: Surfboard Holding BV
Admin Street: ATTN insert domain name here care of Network Solutions PO Box 459
Admin City: Drums
Admin State: PA
Admin Postal Code: 18222
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: 570-708-8780
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Email: fh7p922w7z5@networksolutionsprivateregistration.com
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Beens, Robert
Tech Organization: Surfboard Holding BV
Tech Street: ATTN insert domain name here care of Network Solutions PO Box 459
Tech City: Drums
Tech State: PA
Tech Postal Code: 18222
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: 570-708-8780
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Email: fh7p922w7z5@networksolutionsprivateregistration.com
Name Server: NS1.P27.DYNECT.NET
Name Server: NS2.P27.DYNECT.NET
Name Server: NS3.P27.DYNECT.NET
Name Server: NS4.P27.DYNECT.NET
DNSSEC:
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
>>> Last update of whois database: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 12:52:29 UTC

You know what this means.

Someone has already taken the dontvisitme.com domain, as of 2013-03-19. But that doesn't mean we can't set up other similarly-named sites with the exact scenario detailed in the judge's decision here, and using this exact case as precedent to get a judgement against anyone that stumbles into the honeypot.

Remember, saying something bad won't happen because it's just too farfetched is a nearly 100% effective way of making that exact scenario happen. It's the same reason "Rule 34" works. When someone hears your bad idea, they implement it. It's our turn, Internet. Let's implement this and make him eat his words. Bonus points if we can trap this exact judge in the honeypot personally. That's when we can file suit against the judge to get him kicked off the bench and disbarred for being a complete tool.

gtld-servers.net is only responsible for certain TLDs (ex. .com and .net). They have nothing to do with .org, or other TLDs.

The more accurate answer (as you probably know anyway, sorry for being pedantic in that case) is "query the root servers relevant to that TLD and ask". And if you don't know what rootservers are responsible for the TLD? Ask [a-m].root-servers.net for the NS records for the tld itself (and don't forget the trailing dot!), i.e.:

dig @a.root-servers.net org. ns

And those may change too. The current authoritative rootserver list used by Internet-facing resolvers worldwide is here: ftp://ftp.internic.net/domain/named.cache

Sometimes this is known as "named.root". Enjoy!

Check the WHOIS information for the domains. If there is any missing information at all or if the phone numbers or email addresses don't work, you can file a report with ICANN. I have found that many times people will not reply to the complaint which means the domains are shut down within a few weeks.

Here's the guy who just registered ryanlanza.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

Domain Name: RYANLANZA.COM
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, LLC
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com/
Name Server: NS39.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
Name Server: NS40.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientRenewProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 14-dec-2012
Creation Date: 14-dec-2012
Expiration Date: 14-dec-2013

>>> Last update of whois database: Fri, 14 Dec 2012 19:25:09 UTC

NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the
registrar's sponsorship of the domain name registration in the registry is
currently set to expire. This date does not necessarily reflect the expiration
date of the domain name registrant's agreement with the sponsoring
registrar. Users may consult the sponsoring registrar's Whois database to
view the registrar's reported date of expiration for this registration.

TERMS OF USE: You are not authorized to access or query our Whois
database through the use of electronic processes that are high-volume and
automated except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or
modify existing registrations; the Data in VeriSign Global Registry
Services' ("VeriSign") Whois database is provided by VeriSign for
information purposes only, and to assist persons in obtaining information
about or related to a domain name registration record. VeriSign does not
guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a Whois query, you agree to abide
by the following terms of use: You agree that you may use this Data only
for lawful purposes and that under no circumstances will you use this Data
to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail, telephone,
or facsimile; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to VeriSign (or its computer systems). The compilation,
repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of VeriSign. You agree not to
use electronic processes that are automated and high-volume to access or
query the Whois database except as reasonably necessary to register
domain names or modify existing registrations. VeriSign reserves the right
to restrict your access to the Whois database in its sole discretion to ensure
operational stability. VeriSign may restrict or terminate your access to the
Whois database for failure to abide by these terms of use. VeriSign
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .EDU domains and
Registrars.
The data contained in GoDaddy.com, LLC's WhoIs database,
while believed by the company to be reliable, is provided "as is"
with no guarantee or warranties regarding its accuracy. This
information is provided for the sole purpose of assisting you
in obtaining information about domain name registration records.
Any use of this data for any other purpose is expressly forbidden without the prior written
permission of GoDaddy.com, LLC. By submitting an inquiry,
you agree to these terms of usage and limitations of warranty. In particular,
you agree not to use this data

ICANN also requires valid WHOIS domain data http://wdprs.internic.net/

I have to do this the long way, but let's start off with http://www.internic.net/ which is " InterNIC is a registered service mark of the U.S. Department of Commerce "

then we go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterNIC look at the section internic and icann, again it's a contract agreement for services, the DOC retains control of it.

then we shoot over to the recent seizure warrant used by ICE, http://www.scribd.com/doc/45473003/ICE-affidavit-partial

I wish I had the note's where it's mentioned in the DOC that they own it lock stock and barrel. But the current circumstantial points that I might be correct.

if I find the correct documents I will reply again.

And you, in turn, are my hero. I come to slashdot for the wit and class.

As to your original question... I see on InterNIC's web site that three players are discussed: VeriSign Global Registry Services, Public Interest Registry, and Afilias. I don't really understand their roles, but I believe that verisign is responsible for .com, .net, and .edu domains while Public Interest Registry is in charge of .org. This is what I discern when I run whois queries on (for instance) rojadirecta.com and rojadirecta.org, respectively. However, what I also notice is that the two domains have godaddy.com as registrar.

I cannot tell from these articles if the DHS is approaching the registrar (GoDaddy) or the authorities (VeriSign & Public Interest Registry). Or maybe they are approaching InterNIC, who has oversight over these companies, or even ICANN itself. Maybe this has been covered somewhere else. I'm sure that if the warrants were made public, it would be clearer. Thing is, I recall (when this domain seizure trend first appeared) that GoDaddy was mentioned, and I think it would be very interesting to see a list of the various registrars for all the domains which have been seized up to this point.

Hum. Just looked a little harder, and it seems that none of the domains in this story were GoDaddy. But it still seems reasonable to me that the DHS might go to the registrar rather than some higher authority.

I don't know how much of that you already knew. Some of it is new research, for me. Food for thought.

I was thinking more or less the same thing.

The point is that a good domain name system implementation needs to be secure against protocol attacks. DNSSEC secures it against hackers, but makes it more vulnerable to political attacks.

You do know that DNS root servers are located (and co-located) around the world (20+ countries I believe off the top of my head), and they are all equal. The only US-centric part is that the designated maintainers (ICANN and IANA) are US based organizations, in large part due to historically originating in the US, and this does have the benefit being one of the best legal protection for free-speech in the world.

If you want an alternate system, edit your DNS root hints file.

Join the Internet Society, ICANN, and your national domain registrar if you want to make difference.

... but ...

The root servers hold the root zones (oddly enough)

ftp://ftp.internic.net/domain/root.zone

In that, there are entries for each tld.

za. 172800 IN NS za1.dnsnode.net.
za. 172800 IN NS disa.tenet.ac.za.
za. 172800 IN NS nsza.is.co.za.
za. 172800 IN NS za-ns.anycast.pch.net.
za. 172800 IN NS sns-pb.isc.org.
hippo.ru.ac.za. 172800 IN A 146.231.128.1
hippo.ru.ac.za. 172800 IN AAAA 2001:4200:1010:0:0:0:0:1
disa.tenet.ac.za. 172800 IN A 196.21.79.50
disa.tenet.ac.za. 172800 IN AAAA 2001:4200:ffff:a:0:0:0:1
daisy.ee.und.ac.za. 172800 IN A 146.230.192.18
nsza.is.co.za. 172800 IN A 196.4.160.27
ns1.coza.net.za. 172800 IN A 66.135.62.20

The InterNIC can givith, and takeith away. Just as they provided the glue of the IP's of those nameservers, they could provide alternative information.

evil.hacker.example.za. 172800 IN A 127.0.0.1

Even without such deliberate and obvious (and potentially dangerous) methods, they at very least have the IP's for that NIC. The TLD p2p still must have records with InterNIC. It's not a matter of "we're distributed, we're safe", it's a matter that there can be pressures on some or all providers to make sure things stop.

The only way around this is methods that have been tried before. Alternative NIC's, with their own systems. Build a system, and you can hope that things will work better. In all reality, you or I or 99% of the folks on here could put up their own nameservers and say "hey, use this instead". That's all fine and dandy, but the truth is it will not be financially viable.

Say I set up my nameservers with the tld's of .xxx, .p2p, .torrent. I could advertise it as loud as I could (and my budget doesn't go much beyond posting this). Get your ISP's to change over to our dark side. It's not going to happen, even if we properly respect the legitimate zones. You might get a few. You'll never get the majority. There's too much liability. Think if all the fiber and cable broadband providers said "sure, we'll use you instead." That would be all fun and games until the first lawsuit came down.

So you won't get the ISP's to switch. Run your own nameserver at home, you say. Great. Again, you, I, and 99% of the readers here can do it. What about the other billion people on the Internet. So you have the next killer site, freewarez.p2p. You and your group of friends who did it can get to it. You'll never make a penny on it. Why think about money? Because it costs money to keep your server up.

And of course, you'd have to pay whoever is being authorative for the tld's. Those machines take a beating all day every day. It's not just one machine on a residential line. It's clusters of machines distributed world wide to ensure reliability.

So you retool the way DNS works. Hey, that's a great idea. Until you realize that you have to gain acceptance from every OS distro out there. You may get segments of the Linux and *bsd crowed involved. Good luck getting Microsoft and Apple to sign into it. You'd have a better chance creating your own SSL signing authority and getting them to add those to their browsers (again, good luck there).

I'm not saying it won't happen. It can and should happen. It just isn't likely any time soon. It will be years from rollout of a working platform, to acceptance by even a part of the Internet. It will be quite a few years from that to getting the end users to accept it. Look at the tld .com, a

whois facebook.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

FACEBOOK.COM.ZZZZZZ.THE.BEST.WEBHOSTING.AT.WWW.FATUCH.COM
FACEBOOK.COM.ZZZZZ.GET.LAID.AT.WWW.SWINGINGCOMMUNITY.COM
FACEBOOK.COM.ZZZZZ.DOWNLOAD.MOVIE.ONLINE.ZML2.COM
FACEBOOK.COM.MORE.INFO.AT.WWW.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
FACEBOOK.COM

As I maintain my own DNS servers and such, I was curious how this worked. Here's what I learned with 15 minutes of research:

My first stop was to see the root.zone and I looked for these new TLDs, curious to see how they would show up in a Latin-based zone file. Ah, I spotted these odd XN-- zones and then knew what to dig into more.

Take for instance (I pasted a Unicode domain, but Slashcode won't show it) which is handled by ns[1-3].dotmasr.eg.:

$ dig ns (Unicode domain)

; > DiG 9.6.2-P1-RedHat-9.6.2-3.P1.fc12 > ns (Unicode domain) ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;.(Unicode domain) IN NS ;; ANSWER SECTION:
. 3600(Unicode domain) IN NS ns1.dotmasr.eg.
. 3600 (Unicode domain)IN NS ns2.dotmasr.eg.
. 3600(Unicode domain) IN NS ns3.dotmasr.eg.

If you look in the root.zone file, you will see that the ASCII/Latin version of this zone is really XN--WGBH1C.:
XN--WGBH1C. NS NS1.DOTMASR.EG.
XN--WGBH1C. NS NS2.DOTMASR.EG.
XN--WGBH1C. NS NS3.DOTMASR.EG.

TLD Reserved Domains has a list of the current mappings. ToASCII and ToUnicode are the methods to convert back and forth which links to RFC 3490 which has the nitty gritty details.

(meh, Slashcode doesn't support Unicode encoding, but I can see the Unicode domain name I am pasting in before I hit Preview in Firefox)

Also, the whole switching from right to left in Latin characters to left to right in some Unicode is odd when trying to edit!

Check out Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution. It is often overturned in court, and isn't always effective, but taking back control of the domain in whatever way possible is more than likely the only way you will fully recover from this. Otherwise you are simply on a damage mitigation mission.

Noticed it earlier today. The Twitter-verse of course was immediately complaining about it. As usual I checked the ping, whois, traceroute stuff and it's interesting to say the least:
$ whois youtube.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

YOUTUBE.COM.ZZZZZ.GET.LAID.AT.WWW.SWINGINGCOMMUNITY.COM
YOUTUBE.COM.ZZZZZ.DOWNLOAD.MOVIE.ONLINE.ZML2.COM
YOUTUBE.COM.MORE.INFO.AT.WWW.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
YOUTUBE.COM.LOVES.HILPERS.COM
YOUTUBE.COM.IS.N0T.AS.1337.AS.WWW.GULLI.COM
YOUTUBE.COM

To single out one record, look it up with "xxx", where xxx is one of the
of the records displayed above. If the records are the same, look them up
with "=xxx" to receive a full display for each record.

>>> Last update of whois database: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:59:16 UTC

GULLI.com seems to be somewhere in Germany as per its geo ip.

The stuff above is still what I get back from whois.internic.net.

Wow, just checked for whois google.com and it's coming back worse:

GOOGLE.COM.ZZZZZ.GET.LAID.AT.WWW.SWINGINGCOMMUNITY.COM
GOOGLE.COM.ZZZZZ.DOWNLOAD.MOVIE.ONLINE.ZML2.COM
GOOGLE.COM.ZOMBIED.AND.HACKED.BY.WWW.WEB-HACK.COM
GOOGLE.COM.ZNAET.PRODOMEN.COM
GOOGLE.COM.WORDT.DOOR.VEEL.WHTERS.GEBRUIKT.SERVERTJE.NET
GOOGLE.COM.VN
GOOGLE.COM.UY
GOOGLE.COM.UA
GOOGLE.COM.TW
GOOGLE.COM.TR
GOOGLE.COM.SUCKS.FIND.CRACKZ.WITH.SEARCH.GULLI.COM
GOOGLE.COM.SPROSIUYANDEKSA.RU
GOOGLE.COM.SERVES.PR0N.FOR.ALLIYAH.NET
GOOGLE.COM.SANATATEA-NOASTRA.COM
GOOGLE.COM.SA
GOOGLE.COM.PROGRAMASVIP.COM
GOOGLE.COM.MX
GOOGLE.COM.IS.SHIT.SQUAREBOARDS.COM
GOOGLE.COM.IS.NOT.HOSTED.BY.ACTIVEDOMAINDNS.NET
GOOGLE.COM.IS.HOSTED.ON.PROFITHOSTING.NET
GOOGLE.COM.IS.APPROVED.BY.NUMEA.COM
GOOGLE.COM.HAS.LESS.FREE.PORN.IN.ITS.SEARCH.ENGINE.THAN.SECZY.COM
GOOGLE.COM.DO
GOOGLE.COM.CO
GOOGLE.COM.CN
GOOGLE.COM.CHIQUITASEXY.COM
GOOGLE.COM.BR
GOOGLE.COM.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
GOOGLE.COM.AU
GOOGLE.COM.AR
GOOGLE.COM

Anybody else seeing this?

Here is the list of DNS to query when you run your own DNS, as I stated in my OP. You obviously need to run your own DNS in order to be able to flush the DNS cache as I mentioned in my OP ;-)

This list of root DNS is guaranteed to remain free for public access. These DNS only return pointers to other DNS and are the foundation of how name resolving works on the internet so you are guaranteed to get the correct data as far as it is possible to get it.

In short, no third party is required to run your own DNS. Some will say this is slower because you have to first populate your cache doing multiple queries but I have never noticed any slowness so I do not care about that. Once your cache is populated it is much faster anyway because you do not have to go to the network at all to resolve a name.

It is easy and free to setup your own DNS on most OSes and it could be safer because you get the information as accurate as it can get. My DNS process uses about 13 Meg of ram + the configured cache size which is very light.

List of root DNSes, most of those IPs use "anycast addressing and routing to provide resilience and load balancing across a wide geographic area", so you always query a root DNS close to you anyway:
http://www.internic.net/zones/named.root

Wikipedia documentation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_root_zone

I realize that you probably already knew this, I am just posting to clarify for others ;-))

use an invalid phone number

If you do that you run the risk of getting reported to ICANN.

It would probably be illegal for the US government to require "drivers licenses" for general Internet use.

Absolutely, the INTERNATIONALnetwork.
The moment any nation controls that, well we've lost. (and I'm looking at you, Network Solutions)
richard@lara:~$ whois root-servers.net

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

Domain Name: ROOT-SERVERS.NET
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com/
Name Server: A.ROOT-SERVERS.NET
Name Server: F.ROOT-SERVERS.NET
Name Server: J.ROOT-SERVERS.NET
Name Server: K.ROOT-SERVERS.NET
Status: serverDeleteProhibited
Status: serverTransferProhibited
[etc]

And a whois lookup sure doesn't return a page either, unless you're using a web-based search.

"whois google.com" returns several "pages" worth of information at the command prompt, including two advertisements for MarkMonitor and an ad (or, more charitably, a public service announcement) for Internic:

$ whois google.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

Domain Name: GOOGLE.COM
Registrar: MARKMONITOR INC.
Whois Server: whois.markmonitor.com
Referral URL: http://www.markmonitor.com/
Name Server: NS1.GOOGLE.COM
Name Server: NS2.GOOGLE.COM
Name Server: NS3.GOOGLE.COM
Name Server: NS4.GOOGLE.COM
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Status: serverDeleteProhibited
Status: serverTransferProhibited
Status: serverUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 18-nov-2008
Creation Date: 15-sep-1997
Expiration Date: 14-sep-2011

>>> Last update of whois database: Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:04:20 UTC <<<

NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the
registrar's sponsorship of the domain name registration in the registry is
currently set to expire. This date does not necessarily reflect the expiration
date of the domain name registrant's agreement with the sponsoring
registrar. Users may consult the sponsoring registrar's Whois database to
view the registrar's reported date of expiration for this registration.

TERMS OF USE: You are not authorized to access or query our Whois
database through the use of electronic processes that are high-volume and
automated except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or
modify existing registrations; the Data in VeriSign Global Registry
Services' ("VeriSign") Whois database is provided by VeriSign for
information purposes only, and to assist persons in obtaining information
about or related to a domain name registration record. VeriSign does not
guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a Whois query, you agree to abide
by the following terms of use: You agree that you may use this Data only
for lawful purposes and that under no circumstances will you use this Data
to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail, telephone,
or facsimile; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to VeriSign (or its computer systems). The compilation,
repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of VeriSign. You agree not to
use electronic processes that are automated and high-volume to access or
query the Whois database except as reasonably necessary to register
domain names or modify existing registrations. VeriSign reserves the right
to restrict your access to the Whois database in its sole discretion to ensure
operational stability. VeriSign may restrict or terminate your access to the
Whois database for failure to abide by these terms of use. VeriSign
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .EDU domains and
Registrars.
Ma

From here

Nope, it's available :) $ whois didglennbeckrapeandmurderayounggirlin1991.com [Querying whois.verisign-grs.com] [whois.verisign-grs.com] Whois Server Version 2.0 Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/ for detailed information. No match for domain "DIDGLENNBECKRAPEANDMURDERAYOUNGGIRLIN1991.COM". >>> Last update of whois database: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:15:08 UTC

Whois Server Version 2.0 Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/ for detailed information. Domain Name: X.COM Registrar: MARKMONITOR INC. Whois Server: whois.markmonitor.com Referral URL: http://www.markmonitor.com/ Name Server: PPNS1.DEN.PAYPAL.COM Name Server: PPNS1.PHX.PAYPAL.COM Name Server: PPNS2.DEN.PAYPAL.COM Name Server: PPNS2.PHX.PAYPAL.COM Status: clientDeleteProhibited Status: clientTransferProhibited Status: clientUpdateProhibited Updated Date: 01-sep-2008 Creation Date: 02-apr-1993 Expiration Date: 20-oct-2011 >>> Last update of whois database: Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:03:44 UTC http://www.markmonitor.com/ Administrative Contact: Domain Administrator eBay Inc. 2145 Hamilton Avenue San Jose CA 95125 US hostmaster@ebay.com +1.4083767400 Fax: +1.4083767514 Technical Contact, Zone Contact: Domain Administrator eBay Inc. 2145 Hamilton Avenue San Jose CA 95125 US hostmaster@ebay.com +1.4083767400 Fax: +1.4083767514 Created on..............: 1993-04-01. Expires on..............: 2011-10-20. Record last updated on..: 2009-07-25. Domain servers in listed order: ppns1.phx.paypal.com ppns2.den.paypal.com ppns2.phx.paypal.com ppns1.den.paypal.com

Quick note regarding "hundreds or thousands" of registrars:

For those that don't know, quite a few of those "registrars" listed at http://www.internic.net/alpha.html are used for drop catching (referring to pending deletes, not partner auctions). They're created by the parent companies of Snapnames, Pool and Namejet (obvious ones look like enomxxx). An accurate count of "valid" registrars would include those with standard registar pages and public facing whois. These are arguably on the up-and-up; others are used for seedy purposes as you point out. In fairness, cleaning up the whois mess is tricky and fraught with slippery-slope issues.

I'd agree that ICANN is like a deer stuck in the headlights but would disagree that the consumer lost big. Godaddy's rise to dominance has been through marketing and sub-$10 regs. Without the competition we'd probably still be paying $35-$70 to Netsol. Note how Netsol's recent rebranding effort isn't about lowering price, just adding value add stuff like sites, etc. A majority of folks are still clueless about this interweb stuff and don't realize that domain registration is a commodity business.

Having said that, Godaddy sucks and their market share of 30%+ of total regs (33m+ domains) is worrisome in a gut-feeling sort of way. IMHO.

So primary the root zone for yourself and don't use their DNS. They can't intercept DNS requests to 127.0.0.1

The root zone is just a bunch of pointers to the TLD servers that have all the big files and the root zone is tiny.

Just declare yourself authoritative for . and use the root zone of your choice. The legacy one is at : ftp://rs.internic.net/domain/

And what is this then?

http://www.internic.net/

Go ahead do a whois search, http://www.internic.net/whois.html for who.int

All you need to do is fetch and use ftp://rs.internic.net/domain/root.zone.gz and you're independent of the root name servers.

nono:~ xxxxxxxxxxx$ whois google.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

GOOGLE.COM.ZZZZZ.GET.LAID.AT.WWW.SWINGINGCOMMUNITY.COM
GOOGLE.COM.ZOMBIED.AND.HACKED.BY.WWW.WEB-HACK.COM
GOOGLE.COM.YAHOO.COM.MYSPACE.COM.YOUTUBE.COM.FACEBOOK.COM.THEYSUCK.DNSABOUT.COM
GOOGLE.COM.WORDT.DOOR.VEEL.WHTERS.GEBRUIKT.SERVERTJE.NET
GOOGLE.COM.VN
GOOGLE.COM.UY
GOOGLE.COM.UA
GOOGLE.COM.TW
GOOGLE.COM.TR
GOOGLE.COM.SUCKS.FIND.CRACKZ.WITH.SEARCH.GULLI.COM
GOOGLE.COM.SPROSIUYANDEKSA.RU
GOOGLE.COM.SERVES.PR0N.FOR.ALLIYAH.NET
GOOGLE.COM.SA
GOOGLE.COM.PLZ.GIVE.A.PR8.TO.AUDIOTRACKER.NET
GOOGLE.COM.MX
GOOGLE.COM.IS.NOT.HOSTED.BY.ACTIVEDOMAINDNS.NET
GOOGLE.COM.IS.HOSTED.ON.PROFITHOSTING.NET
GOOGLE.COM.IS.APPROVED.BY.NUMEA.COM
GOOGLE.COM.HAS.LESS.FREE.PORN.IN.ITS.SEARCH.ENGINE.THAN.SECZY.COM
GOOGLE.COM.DO
GOOGLE.COM.COLLEGELEARNER.COM
GOOGLE.COM.CO
GOOGLE.COM.BR
GOOGLE.COM.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
GOOGLE.COM.AU
GOOGLE.COM.ACQUIRED.BY.CALITEC.NET
GOOGLE.COM

To single out one record, look it up with "xxx", where xxx is one of the
of the records displayed above. If the records are the same, look them up
with "=xxx" to receive a full display for each record.

>>> Last update of whois database: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:18:26 EDT

NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the
registrar's sponsorship of the domain name registration in the registry is
currently set to expire. This date does not necessarily reflect the expiration
date of the domain name registrant's agreement with the sponsoring
registrar. Users may consult the sponsoring registrar's Whois database to
view the registrar's reported date of expiration for this registration.

TERMS OF USE: You are not authorized to access or query our Whois
database through the use of electronic processes that are high-volume and
automated except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or
modify existing registrations; the Data in VeriSign Global Registry
Services' ("VeriSign") Whois database is provided by VeriSign for
information purposes only, and to assist persons in obtaining information
about or related to a domain name registration record. VeriSign does not
guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a Whois query, you agree to abide
by the following terms of use: You agree that you may use this Data only
for lawful purposes and that under no circumstances will you use this Data
to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail, telephone,
or facsimile; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to VeriSign (or its computer systems). The compilation,
repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of VeriSign. You agree not to
use electronic processes that are automated and high-volume to access or
query the Whois database except as reasonably necessary to register
domain names or modify existing registrations. VeriSign reserves the right
to restrict your access to the Whois database in its sole discretion to ensure
operational stability. VeriSign may restrict or terminate your access to the
Whois database for failure to abide by these terms of use. VeriSign
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .EDU domains and
Registrars.
nono:~ xxxxxxxxxxx$

You need to contact Yahoo! about correcting the old data they have about this IP address because I think Yahoo! may use their own whois data a. Ehh! You should check several third party systems to check if whois data has propagated to all of servers in the world properly. You can use these websites to check:
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp
http://www.internic.net/whois.html
http://uwhois.com/
http://www.whois.net/
If you see one that is out of sync then you need to contact that registry server/db owner and tell them to update that data.
I remember I updated my whois data for my company several months ago and occasionally I find a backwater server that still has the old whois information and depending who they are I'll contact them to update their server/db.

Assuming in future when you try to resolve ftp.internic.net, you get the result via real root name servers and thus you can trust ftp://ftp.internic.net/domain/named.cache by itself. DNS works at the thin edge of trust, as the article tried to emphasize. Root name servers are the pivots for the Internet infrastructure, that we don't realize in our day to day activities. Any damage there is always catastrophic that had been proven in the past. The article emphasized what could go wrong, without knowing you and me for months.

You can get the your root server hints files from:

ftp://ftp.internic.net/domain/named.cache

Slashdot's junk filter won't allow a cut and paste of the file's contents into a post.

So? That doesn't address the issue at all. The fact that something is convenient doesn't mean that it is how it is supposed to be according to the requirements. However, http://www.internic.net/faqs/domain-names.html does say that "The .com, .info, .name, .net, and .org TLDs are open and unrestricted."

And yet, in a case such as described by the article, it would seem that the more appropriate course of action would be to operate under the .eu TLD. It would certainly emphasize the fact that the intended customers are residents of the designated territory. I am not sure the case qualifies as censorship here for the very reason that having a .com TLD invites US business. And certainly US federal government has the responsibility to enforce US laws. It didn't charge the owners of the site with any crimes. It just made it more difficult for the US citizens to go around the embargo. By the way, let's not turn this into an argument about the appropriateness (vs inappropriateness) of the embargo itself. That's an entirely different issue. The issue at hand is whether the US should be enforcing the US law as applied to the US citizens. Any sovereign nation should.

Don't you mean that the US Citizens buy that music without permission. allmp3.ru are located within a sovereign territory operating under its laws and using the domain designated for that territory. The fact that some foreigners use advanced means of communication to buy things from them is hardly their responsibility. I mean, what's the difference between this and someone phoning them (from the US) and purchasing a CD that is to be delivered to an address inside of Russia... or even just phoning them and being put on hold while a piece of music (copyrighted in the US) is played while they hold? If the Russian law does not require them to identify the territoriality of their customers, why should they?

Let's take this example further. Utah has passed laws which prohibit many kinds of pornography. Maybe even all kinds -- I am really not certain. Does that mean all owners of Dutch brothels that advertise their establishments under .nl TLD should be charged in Utah? They are after all ignoring the fact that Utah residents can access their websites contrary to the Utah law.

Name (internic.net:r): anonymous
331 Guest login ok, send your complete e-mail address as password.
Password:
230-Zone files can be found in the domain directory.
230-
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> cd domain
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> ls
500 'EPSV': command not understood.
227 Entering Passive Mode (198,41,0,6,114,5)
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for directory listing.
total 160
-rw-r--r-- 1 9998 213 657 Feb 26 16:56 INTERNIC_ROOT_ZONE.signatures
-rw-r--r-- 1 9998 213 680 Feb 26 16:42 arpa.zone.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 9998 213 75 Feb 26 16:53 arpa.zone.gz.md5
-rw-r--r-- 1 9998 213 72 Feb 26 16:54 arpa.zone.gz.sig
-rw-r--r-- 1 9998 213 2876 Feb 4 12:07 db.cache <---------- list of ip addresses of root servers, ie, the NS records for "."
-rw-r--r-- 1 9998 213 43 Feb 4 12:07 db.cache.md5
-rw-r--r-- 1 9998 213 72 Feb 4 12:07 db.cache.sig
-rw-r--r-- 1 9998 213 2879 Feb 4 12:07 named.cache
-rw-r--r-- 1 9998 213 46 Feb 4 12:07 named.cache.md5
-rw-r--r-- 1 9998 213 72 Feb 4 12:07 named.cache.sig
-rw-r--r-- 1 9998 213 2878 Feb 4 12:07 named.root
-rw-r--r-- 1 9998 213 45 Feb 4 12:07 named.root.md

Even better than Pakistan:

DNS highjackers have effectively blocked YouTube globally by gaining control of the root domain record. whois youtube.com returns a poisoned record:
disruptive:~ stevey$ whois youtube.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

YOUTUBE.COM.ZZZZZ.GET.LAID.AT.WWW.SWINGINGCOMMUNITY.COM
YOUTUBE.COM.MORE.INFO.AT.WWW.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
YOUTUBE.COM.IS.N0T.AS.1337.AS.WWW.GULLI.COM
YOUTUBE.COM

Traceroute to www.youtube.com shows packets disappearing into a Hong Kong ISP, PCCW Telecom.

whois networksolutionsisabunchoffags.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

      Domain Name: NETWORKSOLUTIONSISABUNCHOFFAGS.COM
      Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
      Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
      Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com/
      Name Server: NS1.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM
      Name Server: NS2.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM
      Status: clientHold
      Updated Date: 30-jan-2008
      Creation Date: 30-jan-2008
      Expiration Date: 30-jan-2009

whois networksolutionsisqueer.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

      Domain Name: NETWORKSOLUTIONSISQUEER.COM
      Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
      Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
      Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com/
      Name Server: NS1.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM
      Name Server: NS2.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM
      Status: clientHold
      Updated Date: 30-jan-2008
      Creation Date: 30-jan-2008
      Expiration Date: 30-jan-2009

No offense to gays intended.

whois networksolutionsisabunchoffags.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

      Domain Name: NETWORKSOLUTIONSISABUNCHOFFAGS.COM
      Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
      Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
      Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com/
      Name Server: NS1.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM
      Name Server: NS2.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM
      Status: clientHold
      Updated Date: 30-jan-2008
      Creation Date: 30-jan-2008
      Expiration Date: 30-jan-2009

whois networksolutionsisqueer.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

      Domain Name: NETWORKSOLUTIONSISQUEER.COM
      Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
      Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
      Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com/
      Name Server: NS1.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM
      Name Server: NS2.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM
      Status: clientHold
      Updated Date: 30-jan-2008
      Creation Date: 30-jan-2008
      Expiration Date: 30-jan-2009

No offense to gays intended.

Obviously no human is checking these; and they grab it for 1 day only? What an example of a shitty company getting shittier.

$ whois networksolutionssuckscock.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

      Domain Name: NETWORKSOLUTIONSSUCKSCOCK.COM
      Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
      Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
      Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com/
      Name Server: NS1.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM
      Name Server: NS2.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM
      Status: ok
      Updated Date: 08-jan-2008
      Creation Date: 08-jan-2008
      Expiration Date: 08-jan-2009

It's beautiful. I got them to register BigGiganticDonkeyDicks.com! What a bunch of lowlifes they are. To think they once ruled all domain registration and are now reduced to bottom feeding.

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

      Domain Name: BIGGIGANTICDONKEYDICKS.COM
      Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
      Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
      Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com/
      Name Server: NS1.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM
      Name Server: NS2.RESERVEDDOMAINNAME.COM
      Status: ok
      Updated Date: 08-jan-2008
      Creation Date: 08-jan-2008
      Expiration Date: 08-jan-2009

First up, 2-Oscar-7.net

symbolis@symbolis-desktop:~$ whois -H 2o7.net

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

      Domain Name: 2O7.NET
      Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
      Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
      Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com/
      Name Server: NS1.DAL.OMNITURE.COM
      Name Server: NS1.SJ1.OMNITURE.COM
      Name Server: NS1.SJ2.OMNITURE.COM
      Status: clientTransferProhibited
      Updated Date: 27-jun-2006
      Creation Date: 29-sep-2000
      Expiration Date: 29-sep-2010

>>> Last update of whois database: Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:07:05 UTC http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

      Domain Name: 207.NET
      Registrar: MARKMONITOR INC.
      Whois Server: whois.markmonitor.com
      Referral URL: http://www.markmonitor.com/
      Name Server: NS1.DAL.OMNITURE.COM
      Name Server: NS1.SJ1.OMNITURE.COM
      Name Server: NS1.SJ2.OMNITURE.COM
      Status: clientDeleteProhibited
      Status: clientTransferProhibited
      Status: clientUpdateProhibited
      Updated Date: 28-dec-2006
      Creation Date: 11-jul-1996
      Expiration Date: 10-jul-2012

>>> Last update of whois database: Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:07:05 UTC http://www.markmonitor.com/

        Administrative Contact:
                Domain Admin (NIC-14522673) Omniture
                550 East Timpanogos Circle Orem UT 84097 US
                dnsadmin@omniture.com +1.8017227000 Fax- +1.8017227001
        Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
                Domain Admin (NIC-14522673) Omniture
                550 East Timpanogos Circle Orem UT 84097 US
                dnsadmin@omniture.com +1.8017227000 Fax- +1.8017227001

        Created on..............: 1996-Jul-10.
        Expires on..............: 2012-Jul-09.
        Record last updated on..: 2006-Dec-30 03:02:52.

        Domain servers in listed order:

        NS1.SJ1.OMNITURE.COM
        NS1.SJ2.OMNITURE.COM
        NS1.DAL.OMNITURE.COM

"Good point, now I will check a second secret domain to prove or disprove the "ass-tunnel" hypothesis" "

% whois ass-tunnels.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

No match for "ASS-TUNNELS.COM".

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

No match for "ASS-TUNNEL.COM"