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VeriSign Shutting Down Site Finder
00420 writes "VeriSign, the administrator of the .com and .net domains, made plans to shut down its new Site Finder service Friday, after the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ordered the company to undo controversial changes. Of course they're not taking it down because it affected the internet, they're just doing it to keep good relations with the technical community. (Seems a little late for that doesn't it?)" The shutdown is not complete yet, though: VeriSign hasn't changed their wildcard DNS entry (64.94.110.11).
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I never much liked Verisign in the past, but since I already had an account there, using them to register new domains was simply the path of least resistance. But their SiteFinder is the straw that broke the camel's back.
Jason.
Call me paranoid, but... I wonder if they'll try to revert the situation, or come up with some other (equally hazardous) idea to replace this one. If they invested some money into the idea, I guess they won't give up that easily.
So.....go....ICANN?
I thought we didn't like them?
I love how they play it off like: "Fine, ya big babies, we'll turn it off for a little bit; just to shut you up."
They're such a bunch of jackasses! It's like spitting in our faces for THEIR wrong-doing.
they're just doing it to keep good relations with the technical community.
So, it has nothing to do with the three lawsuits by godaddy, netster and their ilk?
Riight.
-Gwala
#!/bin/csh cat $0
I have a very difficult time understanding how VeriSign stays in business at all considering there are much better options for both domain registration and secure certificates.
Damn the Goddess of Geekdom, she is a fickle mistriss!
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From the article: "We will accede to the request while we explore all of our options." or, "All night lawyer party at the home of the VP for marketing!" Techs and engineers will not be invited.
Any technology distinguishable from magic is not sufficiently advanced.
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. - Geek's corollary to Clarke's law
Well, seeing how much ass Verisign sucks, what are the best options out there for people wanting to jump ship?
Here is the start of a thread on the NANOG mailinglist:
. html
http://www.merit.edu/mail.archives/nanog/msg14917
Just goes to show how pissed people really are.....
SCREW THE ADS! http://adblock.mozdev.org/ Proud user of teh Fox of Fire - Registered Linux User #289618
Good news! I can now go back to hating both companies equally.
Note that "making plans to shut down" does not equal "shut down."
From: owner-registrars@verisign-grs.comr egistrars@verisign-grs.com]On Behalf Of VeriSign Customer
.com and .net zones and revert to the former behavior for these
[mailto:owner-
Service
Sent: Friday, October 03, 2003 6:08 PM
To: registrars@verisign-grs.com
Subject: [RegistrarsList] VeriSign NDS Response to Suspension of Site
To All Registrars,
I am writing to update you on VeriSigns Site Finder service. On Friday,
October 3rd, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) directed VeriSign, Inc., to temporarily suspend service no later
than 6PM PST, Saturday, October 4. VeriSign requested an extension from
ICANN for 3 additional days for the shut down in order to provide the
technical community time to make any necessary system changes.
Unfortunately, ICANN refused this request. Accordingly, in response to
this demand, VeriSign is temporarily suspending the Site Finder service
as of Saturday, October 4 at 6PM PST.
In suspending the service, VeriSign will remove the wildcard A records
from the
zones which is returning Name Error/RCODE=3 in response to queries for
nonexistent domain names.
VeriSign remains committed to improving the Internet user experience.
We look forward to providing the Site Finder service following this
suspension. Thank you for your business. We greatly value our
relationship with you.
Best Regards,
Chris Sheridan
Manager, Customer Service
VeriSign, Inc.
www.verisign.com
I guess this goes to show that after all ICANN does indeed have some authority over Verisign. Maybe ICANN isn't the pointless and powerless body we though they were.
I simply placed a entry in my HOSTS file and blocked out Verisign's DNS hi-jacking.
Simple solution. Everyone just has to manually edit their HOSTS file every time Verisign changes something.
Good thing people like you are around to tell us these things.
has been for years
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
Of course they're not taking it down because it affected the internet, they're just doing it to keep good relations with the technical community.
Nonsense. They have already demonstrated significant contempt for the technical community -- remember their original response to ICANN's advisory?
They are doing it because ICANN's last letter put their super-duper exclusive right to operate the DNS in play. Maybe ICANN could terminate, maybe not -- but who would put the entire business on the line for this opportunity -- particularly when there still is a chance to negotiate something like that in the future?
In all the communication Verisign presented, they kept the word "temporarily" or made suggestions which imply that.
Something tells me Verisign still has some tricks up their sleeve, which includes reinstating the service after their laywers have come up with a "satisfactory answer" to ICANN's ultimatum.
Guess I shouldn't take away my wewantour404.(com|net) yet...
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I find interesting that Verisign requested 3 days before shutting down the service to give time for the tech community to adjust.. Did they do this when the service kicked in?
Also, a quick hint to all of you stuck with Verisign to renew because the domain is past due:
Verisign renewal
Pay 15USD instead of 35USD for the very same 1 year reneal service.. Ain't that great?
have you been defaced today?
DNS does not define wildcard redirections. VeriSign should lose the contract just because of that.
These are the same guys that were ordered by the FTC to stop falsely advertising renewal services, isn't it?
Lame crooks.
...for the guy who some day down the line gets 64.94.110.11. All these null routes probably won't go away that easily. He'll have lots of mystified users...
Any sufficiently advanced libertarian utopia is indistinguishable from government.
What might get VeriSign into very big trouble is the admission, in the press release that "ICANN is using anecdotal and isolated issues to attempt to regulate non-registry services, but in the interests of further working with the technical community we will temporarily suspend Site Finder."
I think this is a brand new tactic on the part of VeriSign, to categorize it as a "non-registry service".
That seems to escalate things to a new level, in that it seems to be an admission of abusing their monopoly in the Registry for the provision of a NON-REGISTRY SERVICE.
It had been my understanding that previously their position would have been that it would have been categorized as a Registry service, but one that didn't need approval due to it being "free" (i.e. needs no contract amendment). However, giving advantage for the provision of a non-registry service seems to be MUCH WORSE. Suppose that NON-REGISTRY SERVICE was a REGISTRAR SERVICE, for example, and VeriSign abused its monopoly to advantage one of their partners in that space? Just like WLS.
Clearly, VeriSign's abusive and monopolistic business practises need to be examined at the highest levels of government and by regulators.
P.S. Keep up the pressure, by supporting the Stop VeriSign DNS Abuse petition -- 17,000 signatures and counting.
Considering the massive amounts of money I'm sure they have spent on hardware, development and other neccesities on this silly project, I'm pretty confident to say that they just won't roll over and stop without a fight.
I'm sure the lawyers will drag this one out in court.
Heres one violation that I found.
As noted in the Message from Security and Stability Advisory Committee to ICANN Board:
Now take a look at verisign's
Of course, Im no lawyer. Any comments on this would be appreciated. It looks pretty clear to me that Verisign isnt meeting their contractural agreements.
I like how Verisign is trying to act like ICANN is acting so rash and irresponsible:
This is what ICANN is for. This is excellent news! It doesnt matter how many moronic web users are clicking on things when verisign's page comes up or how useful Verisign's market research shows it is. Its important to adhere to standards. Verisign's excuses are hilarious. "Users find it useful. It has nothing to do with the loads of advertising money we get. I swear!".
Its always about money.
Since both Verisign and ICANN qualify as enemies, does that mean that they're both our friends??
And the muscular cyborg German dudes dance with sexy French Canadians
The shutdown is not complete yet, though: Verisign hasn't changed their wildcard DNS entry
Actually that means the shutdown has not started yet. Removing the DNS entry is the only thing that matters. The actual webserver can stay for as long as they want, but the IP address 64.94.110.11 will of course never be usable again. We will have switched to IPv6 before the last filtering of that address is removed.
Do you care about the security of your wireless mouse?
Many installations of several Web browsers are susceptible to exploitation. If SiteFinder were somehow compromised externally or internally, one could hypothetically distribute malicious software to a prodigious group of individuals. According to the relevant Yahoo! article, approximately 1.5 million clients were redirected to the "service" daily. Imagine the possibilities!
Do you like German cars?
Dear Internet User, In an effort to comply with ICANN's request, we have shut down site finder. Instead, the wildcard dns entry will now point to goatse.cx. We hope you find our new "non-registry" service useful, and look forward to your comments, which can also be submitted at goatse.cx. With Love, Verisign
VeriSign stated that Internet users had visited the page more than 40 million times in the last three weeks.
:)
Is telemarketing "well received" because 40 million people actually pick up the phone? (regardless of whether they hang up or not)
"The service has been well received by millions of Internet users who appreciate getting navigation tools as opposed to the 'dead end' of an error message," VeriSign's Lewis said in the statement.
Of course, it's considered "well received" because of its 40 million hits... that 99% of which were not intentional. (Of course, the only ones who would actually go somewhere like that intentionally would be us Slashdotters... have to see what all the buzz is about
As of about 8:00 PM EST the wildcard A records pointing to 64.94.110.11 appear to be gone. I'm now getting normal NXDOMAIN responses to queries for nonexistent names.
As for the Web site, I suppose they must have taken that down, too. If you try explicitly going to http://64.94.110.11 (sitefinder-idn.verisign.com) you get a keen little page that says
We didn't find: "64.94.110.11"
There is no Web site at this address.
and I'm sure VeriSign wouldn't fib about a thing like that....
Never grep a yacc by the i-node.