Whois Record Falsification Closer To Illegality

PipianJ writes "Reuters is reporting that the House of Representatives has recently passed the bill that would approve of penalties for those using fraudulent WHOIS records (H.R. 3632). Interestingly however, this does not directly outlaw it, instead extending the penalty by seven years for felonies performed using such fraudulent websites. The Senate has not yet passed their version (S.2242). The bill as originally written, however, focuses primarily on penalties for promoting counterfeit music, computer programs, and other media with identical labeling."

Comments

Re:What about those concerned with privacy?

[Kenja]

Jebus. People aren't even reading the summery, much less the article. Here, let me refresh your memory.

Interestingly however, this does not directly outlaw it, instead extending the penalty by seven years for felonies performed using such fraudulent websites.

So when you use false information to avoid SPAM or protect your privacy are you committing fraud?

The linked-to bill is scarier than the real one

[0x0d0a]

The Federal Anticounterfeiting Act of 2004, the bill that was *actually* linked to, is some scary stuff.

Writing a program like Daemon Tools (no, not the *IX suite of software, the CD image software) or bnetd (a FOSS Battle.net implementation) would become illegal, with a potential five year federal prison penalty.

Why have I not heard about this before?

I thought this already was...

[Chuck Bucket]

I thought this was illegal, I rem filling out something with some legal stuff when I signed up for my domains, and I was bummed that I would have to put my personal details out there. Then I found Domains by proxy and I didn't have to. So, I didn't break the law, but you can't find my name/address/email with a simple whois!

CB

Re:Hide your info with...

[.com b4 .storm]

Yeah, except if someone sends a letter (even if it's bogus) to your domainsbyproxy.com address, they'll charge $20 just for telling you it arrived and where it's from. Then, if you want to actually READ the mail, you have to pay even more to have it actually forwarded or read through by a human being. Think hourly lawyer fees, because that's basically what you get with this service. If somebody sneezes in the general direction of your domain, some desk clerk will press a button and charge your credit card for it.

I had a domain through domainsbyproxy.com, and I ended up receiving a letter accusing me of infringing on a trademark (one that is easily proven to be common and in prior use via Google or Usenet archives, and even previous to the birth of the internet). I turned over the domain because I'm just a student who lacks the resources to challenge a trademark, no matter how obviously invalid, especially for a novelty domain. But I ended up eating that bogus $20 "you've got mail" cost. It's all in the domainsbyproxy.com contract of course, but it's definitely got its drawbacks that a lot of people might not be aware of.