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Survey on Whois Database
MacRonin writes: "The ICANN Domain Names Supporting Organization (DNSO) is conducting a study of the Internet domain-name system's Whois system, which provides information about registrations of domain names. The DNSO invites you to participate by filling out the survey ... The questions are designed to focus on the purpose, use, and accuracy of the Whois service to establish the appropriate balance between competing interests. The comment period is open NOW until the 31st July 2001. ... Ever wish you could get them to not publish your phone number and address for the junk mail people to use?? Don't mind individual lookups, but bulk sale of the WHOIS data drives you batty. Now is your time to let them know how you feel. Just be polite so they will take you seriously."
>> "As someone living under reasonable privacy laws, I find it somewhat alien that so much personal information (the street address of my home!) is published for the world to see. "
>Get a P.O. Box then. You don't have to use your home address. P.O. Boxes are cheap too. That way, there's not much anyone can do except snail mail bomb you, which is just too expensive to be worth normally.
Good plan, in fact I'm probably going to do that.
However, the fact that it's even a problem in the first place is what seems strange. It's almost like when a US company discovers their software being freely copied, distributed, and sold in China because the copyright laws are different there.
The same as me (in NZ) discovering that lots of my personal information is being freely copied, distributed, and sold in the US because the privacy laws are different there.
Not a massive problem, it's just the way international things work out, but I certainly find the default view that personal information isn't owned by the person it's about to be weird.
- Muggins
>For those people who will scream about privacy and the need to restrict the WHOIS db, tough. Certain things and certain activities are public record, always have been and always will.
That doesn't make them *right*. And the "always have, always will" maybe applies in *your* country. Not mine!
As someone living under reasonable privacy laws, I find it somewhat alien that so much personal information (the street address of my home!) is published for the world to see.
From my perspective, the question is "why is all this private information being bought and sold against the wishes of the owner of that information?"
But the thing is, aren't they already selling the db to spammers in a mass-email-friendly format? Or do spammers just get those adresses from spiders and bots searching the online db?
I suspect it's the former, and if they stopped doing that but left the online db, it's not exactly restricting the info.
Don't forget that Friday is Hawaiian shirt day.
I just tried to fill in the survey, and when I press Submit I get "Error: Unsupported method."
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I have a real problem with the spectre of the WHOIS informaiton being restricted in any way. Limiting access to previously public data tends to make that data a business assett, suitable for profit, rather than the usable resource it once was. I have no doubt that any restrictions to the db in the name of combatting "Spammers/junk mail" will be easily overlooked when the party in question has enough money.
For those people who will scream about privacy and the need to restrict the WHOIS db, tough. Certain things and certain activities are public record, always have been and always will. Property (real estate) records are public domain and no great harm has come from it. I don't see how domain names are all that different.
The Revolution. Now available as a convienent six tape series from PBS.