ICANN Cracks Down on Invalid WHOIS Data

DotNM writes "Internet News reports that ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is beginning a crackdown on invalid data in the WHOIS database. In ICANN's annual report, they found that nearly 5000 of the 24148 complaints were due to inaccurate WHOIS information. Some of the domain names in question had the address information of known spammers in the database. Registrars, the companies you register your domains with, are under contractual obligations to ensure this information is correct and accurate. Do you believe this is a step in the right direction? Why?"

Comments

Re:Ironic

[TwistedSquare]

godaddy offer such a service as part of registering with them (for a little extra). They put their details in and forward all mail on to you. Great solution really :) This way you are contactable but your address remains private

Re:Lots of useless data in there

[Space cowboy]

Actually the DB is a bit cleverer than just trusting the user, it takes a track history into account... Even when someone does put the wrong city in, simply to screw it up, as soon as 2 people with different IP's do it correctly, the correct city will appear. Since you can only upload info for your own IP address, and it works on a /24 block, it should recover from bad input data over time...

As for maxmind (and quova), I think you'll find you pay for anything other than the country data. Hostip gives you the city if it can...

Regardless, one of the points is to try and analyse just how much wrong data is entered, when you let the net as a whole put info into a system, so I'm happy anyway, and if it turns out to be a useful resource, so much the better :-)

It's always easier to knock something down rather than build it up, isn't it ? Let's just see how it evolves over time :-)

Simon

Proxy Registration Services

[Jonathan Quince]

For those who fear stalkers, etc., there are services like Domains by Proxy (related to the registrar Go Daddy). These services will register the domain on your behalf; they require valid contact info from you, and they put their own contact info in the WHOIS database. This is technically in line with the ICANN rules because the proxy registrant is the real registrant of the domain. (Although they have a contractual obligation of doing it on your behalf.)

If you break the terms of service -- for example, if you use the domain for spam support or to commit illegal activities -- the proxy registrant will expose your real identity. Otherwise, your privacy is pretty well protected with these services.

I've used those types of services (including Domains by Proxy) to register domains on behalf of minor children who shouldn't have their contact info exposed online, and for other purposes requiring some level of privacy. For my own domains, I'm not afraid to use my valid PO box address and phone number.

(Note: I am not affiliated with these services in any way, except as a customer.)

Re:It's a rule, play by it.

[Anonymous Coward]

postmaster@ is required (RFC822 6.3, C.6), webmaster@ is just a convention, for now.

RFC 2142, "Mailbox Names for Common Services, Roles and Functions" is a proposed standard and includes 'webmaster@', 'abuse@', 'noc@', etc.

Re:It's a rule, play by it.

[TekPolitik]

Just because a rule has gone unenforced for years doesn't make it an invalid rule.

Enforcing this rule for the ".us" domain name is to be required as part of the proposed US-Australia Free Trade Agrement - Chapter 17, Article 17.3

Re:It's a rule, play by it.

[multipartmixed]

>> postmaster@ is required (RFC822 6.3, C.6)

> Oh dear you thought they were standards,

RFC 822 *is* a standard. It is also known as STD 11, "Standard for the format of ARPA Internet text messages".

--------- *snip* ---------
6.3. RESERVED ADDRESS

It often is necessary to send mail to a site, without know-
ing any of its valid addresses. For example, there may be mail
system dysfunctions, or a user may wish to find out a person's
correct address, at that site.

This standard specifies a single, reserved mailbox address
(local-part) which is to be valid at each site. Mail sent to
that address is to be routed to a person responsible for the
site's mail system or to a person with responsibility for general
site operation. The name of the reserved local-part address is:

Postmaster

so that "Postmaster@domain" is required to be valid.

Note: This reserved local-part must be matched without sensi-
tivity to alphabetic case, so that "POSTMASTER", "postmas-
ter", and even "poStmASteR" is to be accepted.