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Network Solutions Changes WHOIS
Jeckle noted that NSI has massively revamped whois. Gone is the contact information, unless of course you use whois.networksolutions.com. (thanks to chrisd for pointing that out). The other servers only contain sketchy information. Less spam, but more control means I guess NSI was just kidding dropping that whole monopoly thing.
I just alias whois="whois -h whois.geektools.com" and let the excellent Geektools whois proxy sort out which registrar. You can fling most any domain name at it, or an IP, and it'll work out the best place to get the data, then go and get it. Excellent stuff.
Alternatively, visit http://www.geektools.com/whois.html to do the same thing.
As part of the NSI's agreement with the ICANN (http://www.icann.org/ns i/nsi-registry-agreement-04nov99.htm), registry information like this is being split up.
Instead of having everything lumped into one database, you have one centralized database (which this has turned into) containing only information about the domain itself and the responsible registrar that introduced it.
If you want details about the domain, you then need to query the appropriate registrar's WHOIS server to retrieve it (this is why querying whois.networksolutions.com gets you the information you're used to getting). This is the most efficient way of handling information like this. Each registrar is responsible for keeping its own database of contact information and the "main" centralized database is responsible only for the domain and the registrar that set it up.
Let's please THINK a bit about a topic and wonder if there might be a perfectly logical explanation for something instead of immediately insisting that someone is being evil and intends to destroy our lives or our Internet.
A little bit of research won't kill you.
I can understand that Network Solutions changed whois output and why they changed it the way they did. What pisses me off is the fact that they regularly and randomly make these unannounced changes. Working for an ISP, we (and 99% of the Internet for that matter) rely on this kind of info and even have a script or two based on whois output.
Also, when did Taiwan stop being a USA puppet? Last time I checked, their little rebellion from the People's Republic of China would have been stopped a long time ago, if it hadn't been for the US.
I want to get it...whois with RedHat 6.0 doesn't.
If you prefer not to use the default generic lookup and want your old lookup back, try this script. For your info, I called it 'nwhois' on my box - if you name it 'whois' then you can't use whois for ARIN and APNIC and international NICs and the like. Note that the following script may require slight modification as the internic page is subject to change. Yes, this could have been made MUCH better, and i'm sure that some day this will be incorporated into the whois program itself. Simple shell script, should be one line. Enjoy, for what it's worth.
It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats.
I would like to know why on earth they went to this mainly freetext output frm the at least somewhat machine-parseable output of before.
I'd also like to know what is wrong with using rwhois for this, since it has all the nice referral stuff built right into it.
I think they let a suit design how the new whois works, instead of an actual programmer, and that is a BAD thing. Protocol implementations should not be changed by clueless bureaucrats, damnit.
This is why I made my Whois-client (jwhois) first ask whois.internic.net and then redirect the query to whatever server it replies knows about it.
But I must say that I don't mind them separating the Whois registries like this.
But remember that it works both ways. Your mentioning that having sex was disgusting can be considered discrimination. So I'd be careful and not prejudge.
But just a word of warning: You may have some difficulty persuading any court that your beliefs are justified. They just may say you are wrong and it's case closed. If they were to make amends for any and all minorities, the law would be thrown out the window.
"Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)
What country are you from?
> fwhois pantheras.org@whois.networksolutions.com
[
Administrative Contact:
Wallace, Nancy (NW1361) darkrose@SHORE.NET
[
Looks like you have a different whois client than the redhat-style fwhois. You might want to read the manpage for it. I hear documentation's pretty helpful in figuring out how to use software.
The Data in Network Solutions' WHOIS database is provided by Network Solutions for information purposes, and to assist persons in obtaining information about or related to a domain name registration record.
Network Solutions does not guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a WHOIS query, you agree that you will 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 (spam); or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes that apply to Network Solutions (or its systems). Network Solutions reserves the right to modify these terms at any time. By submitting this query, you agree to abide by this policy.
WHAT AN EXTRA-ORDINARY CONCEPT
I cannot believe that NSI is try to posit that anyone submitting a Whois query is in fact agreeing to the above contract, whose terms may be changed by NSI at any time! Man, I wish I had this kind of imagination. Just think - under the above they could change the terms and claim a retroactive charge of $1 per Whois query!
Let's see if I can extend this to my own purposes.. hmmm
The Information in this message is provided by the eric conspiracy inc. for the sole purpose of filling up the MySQL database running on servers owned by Andover Net. By accepting this posting into its database, Andover Net agrees to pay the poster 60% of all revenues associated with displaying this post on it's web pages, and supply the author a monthly accounting of such displays and associated revenue to enable accurate invoicing. Any other use including entertainment value, or attracting readers who may also be concurrently shown advertising for renumerative purpose is forbidden. By reading the text of any postings by the eric conspiracy inc., you agree to the terms of this license.
This license may be changed at any time without notice. Changes to the license may include requirements for retroactive license fees associated with the posting, transferrence, display or reading of any data created by the eric conspiracy.
Any transmission of this data over any electronic media whatsoever consitiutes agreement by the carrier to the terms of this license.
No warranty as to the validity or fitness for use of this data is made. All implicit warrantees for fitness for use are disclaimed.
I assume you mean that this registrar should have responsibility for
Too bad about the 10-30% of domain name owners who are not in the US, then....
OTOH, if what you are proposing is the forcible closing of
Actually, this is an anti-monopolistic change!
.com, .net, .org, .edu, or a handle for a contact for one of those. It used to be that if no server was specified, rs.internic.net, the default, used Network Solutions' data, but this is inappropriate now that there are other registrars.
The whois command is meant to be used as "whois name@server" where name is a domain name or handle, and server is the server that has information on that name. At present, "whois name" tells you the name of the correct whois server to use to complete the lookup request, so long as the name is for a
The data previously available is still fully available so long as the correct server is queried - and that won't always be whois.networksolutions.com. Some may prefer that
rs.internic.net did the heavy lifting and made
the request to the correct server and presented
the originator with the final query, but I wouldn't expect that to happen.
$ whois slashdot.org
[useless conversation deleted]
Domain Name: SLASHDOT.ORG
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
Referral URL: www.networksolutions.com
Name Server: NS1.ANDOVER.NET
Name Server: NS2.ANDOVER.NET
Name Server: NS3.ANDOVER.NET
Now using Whois Server from above we can get to the same old contact info we all know and love:
$ whois slashdot.org@whois.networksolutions.com
Of course, we could just assume that whois.networksolutions.com has all the registries (I know, not technically true) and skip the first step. Just more typing.
My point really is that anyone thinking that this is good because it will hide the contact info from spam gatherers is simply wrong. And those who think that this is bad because they will not be able to determine the contact info for legit purposes are also wrong.
We just need to specify which server we want to get the info from. I suppose this is about as good a situation as we could have hoped for in the event of multiple registries.
"I have a good idea why it's hard to verify programs. They're usually wrong." --Manuel Blum, FOCS 94
The whois server at internic.net will tell you which registrar serves that name, and the address of that registrar's whois server for more information.
-
<SIG>
"I am not trying to prove that I am right... I am only trying to find out whether." -Bertolt Brecht
<sig>Guvf vf abg n frperg zrffntr
The change was made as part of the agreement with the US govt. and other registrars.
Previously, a whois query on the default server would return information about a domain only if Network Solutions was the registrar for that domain, and a negative result if the domain was registered elsewhere.
Now, all registrars are at an equal distance from the default whois server. To look up a domain, first do a 'whois' with the default server, and see what whois server serves that domain; then do a second query against that server, and you'll get all information you expect.
A script to parse the output of the first "whois" and issue a second query is trivial and is left as an exercise for the reader.
This is a good thing. The default "whois" is no longer NSI-only, and we no longer have to guess where the other whois servers are to track down a domain contact.
> So we'll have to do this until we hack whois to support it:
I heard about a very very handy whois server:
geektools.com
whois -h geektools.com dommain
gives info on whatever domain, even if it's a countrycode TLD.
(try whois -h geektools.com tudelft.nl)
<grub> Reading
One-stop WHOIS. OK, this isn't a real big problem, but it would be nice to go back to a single repository for domain info. All domain info.
Rest assured that this will appear in good time. Obviously it would be a huge boon to administrators to have such a tool, and it's pretty easy to code such a service that queries the central server and then queries the registrar, giving you all of the information available.
which only gives me MORE spam, BAD service, MORE paperwork, MORE lawsuits, and invades my privacy.
Maybe it's time you switched registrars then? The whole idea behind multiple registrars is so they can act competitively. Things like spam, bad service and excessive paperwork are detractors. People aren't going to want to do business with registrars like this, and will take their business to registrars that don't have these issues. It's simple economics. Contrast this with a government-subsidized monopoly over the system, where spam, bad service and excessive paperwork are the norm because they don't *have* to do any better. I wouldn't even have had a problem with them raising rates a bit if it meant fixes to these issues, but they were never under any obligation to do so, so it never happened. Competition in this area isn't necessarily a bad thing and will only lead to better and smarter ways for people to manage their domains.
If you're truly concerned about your privacy, find a registrar that respects it. Do some investigating and find the registrar you want to do business with. If none exist, make it known that this is a major factor. Eventually someone will step up.
ARIN assigns IP address blocks. It works (very well). If the "private" sector was so much better, why aren't we assigning IPs that way?
The number of requests for IP's going through ARIN is a tiny fraction compared to domain names going through registrars. ARIN doesn't really assign IP's out to individual ISP's all over the world. More often than not, they will delegate large swaths of IP's to larger ISP's (or countries), who then sub-delegate to their own customers/ISP's.
It works out to more of a top-level tree system, with ARIN delegating large chunks of IP space and letting those people delegate as necessary. The result is a minimal amount of work and overhead on ARIN's part, which makes their work inexpensive and perfect for a relatively small (even if government-sponsored) organization. Privatizing this wouldn't make much of a difference.
0-12:49 dannyman@europa ~> whois dannyland.org
[...]
Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
[...]
0-12:49 dannyman@europa ~> whois dannyland.org@whois.networksolutions.com
[...]
Administrative Contact:
Howard, Daniel Joseph (DJH26) dannyman@DANNYLAND.ORG
650 559 0302
[...]
Rocket science it aint.
Unfortunately, whois.networksolutions.com will not contain information about domains registered through other competing registrars. Slashdot.org is registered with NSI, which is why it shows up there.
And to follow up on my own post:
whois -h geektools.com quad.dotted.ip.addy
also works for looking up ARIN contacts.
<grub> Reading
bleh...you dont need perl for this, just a couple gnu utils:
fwhois @`whois | grep "Whois Server:" | cut -f2 -d':' | tr -d \[:blank:\]`
or
whois -h `whois | grep "Whois Server:" | cut -f2 -d':' | tr -d \[:blank:\]`
--Siva
Keyboard not found.
Keyboard not found.
Press F1 to continue.
One-stop WHOIS
On a related note, apparently offers such a service that works irrespective of TLD. If it doesn't already work with the current splitting of generic TLD's, it surely will soon.
whois -h geektools.com domain.tld
[Preview] is your friend.
Allow me to correct myself..
They have to pay NSI $19, not $70...
NSI is still ringing their CASH register
everytime someone registers a domain.
-- The Funk, The Whole Funk, And Nothing But The Funk
swhois.net is much better than geektools.
it does contact handles, and IP netblocks,
and auto-redirects the whois to the right
registry for a one-click whois showing
contact info..
-- The Funk, The Whole Funk, And Nothing But The Funk
It is simply the best one on the net.
www.dns411.com You can also transparently look up ARIN netblocks and all kinds of handle info. Available via command line with:
-- The Funk, The Whole Funk, And Nothing But The Funk
Didn't the government take away their monopoly power? Didn't they grant other orginazations the right to give out .com, .net & other domains. I thought that I read that somewhere a while ago. What happened?
Pete
The sole purpose of the Internet is to get porn and bomb making plans into the hands of children.
At least the email addresses aren't available now and I like that considering all the domains I host. I just recently made a ton of changes that stopped my contact email from being printed but this is hella better.
"Fighting the underpants gnomes since 1998!" "Bruce Schneier knows the state of schroedinger's cat"
it looks the same to me except minus the netsol spam
:)
all the info i gave them on where to send snail and normal mail are still there
(normal mail == email
Need a Catering Connection
Doing a whois to rs.internic.net will no longer give
you the info about a domain on Dec 1st. It will just
tell you who that domain is registered with.
So we'll have to do this until we hack whois to
support it:
alias whois 'whois \!*@`/usr/bin/whois \!*@whois.nsiregistry.net |grep Whois\ Server: |
cut -f2- -d:`'
note: This syntax is specific to fwhois which is what is on Redhat boxen
by default(whois is a symlink to fwhois.)
fwhois user@host instead of whois -h host user
p.s. Is there any kind of group/mailing list that is somewhere
between flux(user level) and nanog(backbone level). I guess I
should look for some kind of ISP operator's list.
Posted on NANOG:
"Newell, Tom" wrote:
>
> An FYI of an operational nature.......
>
> --Tom
> Director of gTLD Programs
> NSI Registry
>
> ##########################################
>
> Redirecting Port 43 Whois
>
> The following change is being made to comply with the recently
> negotiated and signed agreements between the U.S. Department of
> Commerce, ICANN, and NSI.
>
> Effective December 1, 1999 Network Solutions will be redirecting
> port 43 (rs.internic.net) Whois from the NSI Registrar Whois to
> the NSI Registry Whois. The NSI Registry Whois can currently be
> found at whois.nsiregistry.net. After this occurs, port 43 Whois
> will show the following information: domain name, registrar, Whois
> server, registrar referral URL and the names of the name servers
> associated with the domain. To obtain registrant and domain name
> contact information, users will need to refer to the Whois service
> provided by the registrar for the domain name.
>
> Send questions or comments to whois@nsiregistry.net.
--
This is the whois server that was formerly available only at whois.nsiregistry.net. For the past few months, I had always appended either -h whois.nisregistry.net (or @whois.nsiregistry.net depending on the flavor of whois) to my whois queries. I used the shared registry, because it would also give information on domains registered with the new registrars (register.com, joker, etc...).
I'm glad to see that the "default" whois.internic.net has now been switched over.
I doubt Network Solutions did this on their own without some pressure. Does anyone know what particular event caused this change?
Sorry, but no. We *need* every domain to have real, live, active contact addresses and phone numbers. It's a responsibility and accountability thing, just like postmaster@example.com. (Not having a working postmaster@ is an RBL'able offense, in some cases.)
The solution is to stop the spammers, not to hide contact information which is *NECESSARY* to keep the system running.
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
Also, be sure to also check out the newly updated, mostly NSI-less InterNIC Web Site.
As an example:
In the past, there have been "fan" sites for movies, revealed to have domains registered to companies marketing the movies. If you can't look up who registered a domain, how can you tell?
(There was a slashdot.org story on this a few months ago.)
Well, I guess this'll mean I have less work to do when somebody probes my servers now.
I used to make sure the contacts at the subnet where the probes came from knew, in case they'd been busted open and script kiddies were using them as a point to attack from.
But now I don't know where to send, so less work for me, and blissful ignorance for them. Not that anyone ever replied, anyways.
Rob, you should probably watch the sarcasm here. The only 'real' power that NSI has over domains now is the fact they run the central repository, the one that actually keeps the root servers inline.
No matter what registrar registers a name (even NSI), NSI gets just $6 out of them, and it's the registrar's responsibility to run the WHOIS server for the domains of their customers.
Can you come up with a better way to make whois work with multiple servers without totally revamping the utility and breaking everything out ther? The way things are now, (rs.internic.net just telling what WHOIS server to query for more information) is a fine solution, and it does little to 'prop up' NSI's perceived monopoly status.
No matter what, someone's got to be in charge, and since NSI has had the most experience running (or screwing) things, this is probably the best way for things to be.
Only on slashdot can a posting be rated "Score -1, Insightful".
If you are using Debian, you can 'whois -C ' to see the full info. This has the added benefit of looking up info for domains registered with other registrars.
-C First query www.crsnic.net to find the registrar for a GTLD subdomain. This option overrides -h.
(Other whois or rwhois clients may have a similar option. The whois client on a Redhat 6.0 box doesn't seem to have any way to do this though.)
got to this URL
http://www.websajt.nu/whois/
It lets you do a grep across many international domains. If you want to search the full list of over 200 domain, it will send you an email with the full results.
actually kinda neat
It definitely was different this morning, but seems to be back to normal now...no matter, i usewhodat instead. /shameless plug. Actually i've used this for a while, since i work for an ISP that seems to attract register.com customers (Not only did they mess up whois, but try getting a verisign cert for a company registered there...)
--BlueLines "The cost of living hasn't affected it's popularity." -anonymous
I checked my four domains - I don't see any changes. Perhaps tomorrow. Hopefully, we can keep NSI from getting the same ego/power as WTO.
Democrats and Republicans only disagree about how to enslave you
There were a few lines missing in the script.
/^[[]/)
#!/usr/bin/perl
# whois3 -- do a whois on the default server
# then parse output to find the server of the
# registrar that manages that name.
# Re:solution (Score:1)
# by hucke (matt@hucke.org) on Wednesday December 01, @01:07PM MDT (#68)
# (User Info) http://www.graveyards.com/
# fixed by Barbarian (conanford@hotmail.com)
die ("Usage: $0 domainname\n") if ($#ARGV);
$item = @ARGV[0];
@results = `whois $item`;
for $line(@results)
{
chomp($line);
$line =~ s/^\s//g;
if ($line =~
{
print "$line\n";
} elsif ($line =~ m/(Domain Name|Registrar|Name Server): (.*)/) {
print "$line\n";
} elsif ($line =~ m/Whois Server: (.*)/) {
$server=$1;
print "$line\n";
}
}
close(W);
if ($server)
{
print "Server: $server\n";
# system("whois $item\@$server"); ## for RIPE whois
system("whois -h $server $item"); ## for other whois
}
I agree completely. The DNS system is the gateway between human use of the internet and the machines that make it go. Without that translation layer the whole thing becomes immensely less usefull: can you imagine a Nike commercial telling you to check out their web site at 207.87.10.243 ?!. Most people have a hard enough time remebering phone numbers...
Once upon a time, long before Microsoft knew there was an internet, the DNS system worked quite well to allow us to telnet, gopher, ftp and telnet our way around the world. With the explosion (exploitation?) of the World Wide Web, the same system that supported us so well before is truly showing its limitations and nothing has pointed this out quite as clearly as the recent privatization of the TLDs. I almost threw up the first time I registered a domain for a client and got a page from Network Solutions that said 'would you also like to register the .org and .net for that domain?'.
Throw into the mix all the legal issues involving domain name disputes and such and the whole system becomes a raging mess! For a service that is so critical to the very usefullness of the internet in general, chaos in the system is a terrible thing! Personally, I felt that InterNIC (as funded by the NSF and such) worked quite well as a non-profit, government sanctioned orginization - no fuss, no muss. Since the transition, things have been a bit... less friendly.
Granted, I would expect a few hiccups with such a massive change of paradigms, but I still think the problem will remain. What needs to be done is something truly different. How about coming up with a better system completely? Perhaps one built on the 'private' mentality from the ground up - perhaps a truly distributed system with a level playing field. I don't know what it'd be, but clearly, the system we have is showing stress fractures around the seams...
Barring such a radical departure from the current mechanisms, I'd have to agree that things worked smoother with a 'public' organization in charge. This, however, brings up the same old arguments related to global politics: which orginization in which country?
None of these issues are anywere near cut and dry. None of this is going to be easy. But I think that we as a community need to head off this nastiness I see coming as soon as possible. Without reliable DNS mechanisms, we all lose - including Network Solutions...
Culture is more than commerce
One of the provisions in the agreement with ICANN and the Dept. of Commerce is that NSI will give up all rights to the InterNIC trademark and domain names. The internic.net domains will then become home to the root-server whois info for all the gTLD registrars, with a pointer to the original registrar for the organizational and contact records. As someone pointed out, though, the internic.tld domains are currently back to pointing to NSI. Maybe we can get the DOC to point ds.internic.net at Everything.
Save Maine's economy: write stuff down. All comments are exclusively my own, not my employer.
Sorry -- some of that was lost because it contained angle brackets (< >).
The correct version is at http://www.cynico.com/whois2.txt
Here's one that doesn't hide anything from the user, and works for non .com, .net, .org, and .edu domains:#!/usr/bin/perl
# whois3 -- do a whois on the default server
# then parse output to find the server of the
# registrar that manages that name.
# Re:solution (Score:1)
# by hucke (matt@hucke.org) on Wednesday December 01, @01:07PM MDT (#68)
# (User Info) http://www.graveyards.com/
# fixed by Barbarian (conanford@hotmail.com)
# made compatiable with non-US TLD's and a bit more verbose
# now prints full response
die ("Usage: $0 domainname\n") if ($#ARGV);
$item = @ARGV[0];
@results = `whois-real $item`;
for $line(@results)
{
chomp($line);
$line =~ s/^\s//g;
print "$line\n";
if ($line =~ m/Whois Server: (.*)/) {
$server=$1;
}
}
close(W);
if ($server)
{
print "Querying Server: $server\n";
# system("whois-real $dom\@$server"); ## for RIPE whois
system("whois-real -h $server $item"); ## for other whois
}
This works best with the whois from: http://freshmeat.net/appind ex/1999/10/30/941297803.html
The US Post Office is a good example of how a non profit govenment agency can cost more than it should and do less than it can.
Don't you just hate junk mail?
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
I own three domains, and I CONSTANTLY get snail junk mail catalogs with my domain names on them!
The fwhois that Red Hat ships really sucks and seems to be unmaintained. The syntax is non-standard ('whois query@server' instead of the more standard 'whois -h server query'). This causes a lot of problem when you try to search an email address. It's about time they update this little pathetic tool with something that knows about the new NSI registry, arin, and the country top level domains.
Slashdot sucks
If you ask me it's better that they did stop handing out all the information for each domain. Half the time you'd look up a record from their database and their servers would throw back error messages saying they were too busy. At $50 per year their hangups weren't acceptable anyway.
Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggy" until you can find a rock.
I believe that some (USA) web and FTP sites which offer encryption software use reverse DNS + whois lookups to determine if a download request comes from a domain known to be in the U.S.A. I had trouble downloading such software until my ISP added "US" to the street address in its whois entry.
Aside from the fact that NSI has just hosed these sites' authentication mechanisms until they fix their scripts, I wonder how these sites will determine whose registry to check for contact information in the future?
Well, at least there's a way to find registered domains without having to check every single registrar's whois server. So who runs the registry? Still network solutions?
domains, even those registered by competing
registrars are now visible in whois. if you use
the -h option followed by the appropriate
whois server you get the same details as before.
Of course this should all be integrated into one
whois lookup but it's a good step in the right
direction.
You can put away the guns now, no data has been
hidden.
Whois on rs.internic.net is now "registry whois" (previously on whois.crsnic.net), which includes an entry for what server to use for "registrar whois", where one can find contact information. The change is part of the transition away from using "interNIC" (a US Government trademark) to refer to NSI's registrar business.
I've found myself yearning for the good 'ol days, when years would go between changes in the domain request forms, etc... These days working with InterNIC^H^H^H^H^H^HNetwork Solutions is such a
moving target it's a pain in the butt to deal with. At this point, all of the scripts which I'd written for my systems staff to register/modify/whatever domains the "right way" (meaning using our correct information) are now completely useless. You can't even register domains by e-mail anymore.
I understand the reasons for this, mind you (particularly the up-front-payment part,) but they really have got to settle down. I will not continue having to relearn their "process" each time I need to update a domain or something...
Sigh...progress can bite the big one somedays.
-buffy
The last bit should have read:
Maybe we can get the DOC to point ds.internic.net at Everything. < G >
Save Maine's economy: write stuff down. All comments are exclusively my own, not my employer.
This is a very good change... but not because the contact information has been removed.
What's more important is that whois now queries the databases of the other registrars without having to type
$ whois -h whois.register.com
This is *much* better.
OK, I can't stand NSI. However, as another poster pointed out, this is indeed a proper action on NSI's part - the "basic" whois information is available on a central server, and you querry the responsible registrar company for the particulars.
HOWEVER, this whole boondoggle is stupid in the extreme. Honestly, I don't know who got it in their thick skull that multiple registrar agencies was a good idea. It's HORRIBLE. The DNS/Registrar system is a fundamental infrastructure requirement for the Internet to work. And, unlike virtually all other infrastructure of the Internet, it's already easily and logically divided along national boundaries. That is, DNS is segmented so that it's easy to figure out which nation (should) control which TLD.
I hope this whole multiple Registrar thing turns into a massive mess, and the gov't has to step in. Now, I know everyone here doesn't like gov't regulation and is much more libertarian, but here me out:
The US should form a quasi-governmental, NON-PROFIT organization along the lines of the USPS. It should be required to be self-sustaining (ie costs = revenue), but a non-profit. Call this org the USDR (US Domain Registrar).
OK, once the USDR is in place, guess what problems go away:
And, who knows, with a USDR, we might even get somebody to actually ENFORCE the TLD partitioning the way it should be (no more companies in .org!) and maybe even stop people from domain hording (you own the .com, .net, AND .org for your company???) Of course, this is dependent on having the USDR set up properly, with public input.
Honestly, I think there are certain things that the government can do FAR better than private industry. The DNS system is one of them. I'm tired of being exploited by the for-profit Registrar system, which only gives me MORE spam, BAD service, MORE paperwork, MORE lawsuits, and invades my privacy.
I'd trade the current system for a single gov't registrar in a heartbeat. Even if they doubled the domain fees, and made me wait twice as long to register something. My privacy is worth it, and so is the ease-of-use and efficiencies of a central authority.
For those who don't agree, think about this: ARIN assigns IP address blocks. It works (very well). If the "private" sector was so much better, why aren't we assigning IPs that way?
-Erik
There are always four sides to every story: your side, their side, the truth, and what really happened.
Technically, people aren't even allowed to look at themselves in mirrors.
"Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)
News for ya, your parents don't share your beliefs. Well, that's just a guess. Unless there was some form of immaculate conception...
"Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)
#!/usr/bin/perl
/^[[]/)
# whois2 -- do a whois on the default server
# then parse output to find the server of the
# registrar that manages that name.
die ("Usage: $0 domainname\n") if ($#ARGV)
{
chop($line);
$line =~ s/^\s//g;
if ($line =~
{
print "$line\n";
} elsif ($line =~ m/(Domain Name|Registrar|Name Server): (.*)/) {
print "$line\n";
} elsif ($line =~ m/Whois Server: (.*)/) {
$server=$1;
print "$line\n";
}
}
close(W);
if ($server)
{
system("whois $dom\@$server"); ## LINUX
# system("whois -h $server $dom"); ## BSD, Solaris
}
# Sorry for the formatting... slashdot editors, please add support for HTML <PRE>!
This was an announced change they have been publicly planning to do for two weeks.
3 4235&cid=26
Next time read what's already been posted before posting your comment. Had you done that you would have seen:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=99/12/01/13
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
www.slashdot.com is basically held by a domain squatter. Yuck!
--------
"I already have all the latest software."
http://www.spinnwebe.com/whoitis/
A utility I wrote over the weekend to get whois info quickly. Yeah, you can script it yourself, I know, but I'm sure people are still typing -h whois.networksolutions.com like I was for a while. You can use the page until you get around to writing the script yourself.
Although mine also has the neato feature of linking site names and contact handles, which I've already found pretty handy.
Boy, I'm an idiot. It's hard to be a squatter when you had the domain before anybody else. Sorry about that Chris!
$ whois slashdot.org
Registrant:
Rob Malda (SLASHDOT2-DOM)
116 E 18th St
Holland, MI 49423
Domain Name: SLASHDOT.ORG
Administrative Contact:
Malda, Rob (RM7054) malda@SLASHDOT.ORG
616-994-0441
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
DNS Administrator (DA15693-OR) dnsadmin@ANDOVER.NET
978-635-5300
Fax- 978-635-5326
Billing Contact:
Malda, Rob (RM7054) malda@SLASHDOT.ORG
616-994-0441
Record last updated on 31-Aug-1999.
Record created on 05-Oct-1997.
Database last updated on 8-Dec-1999 15:24:38 EST.
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.ANDOVER.NET 209.207.224.196
NS2.ANDOVER.NET 209.207.224.197
NS3.ANDOVER.NET 209.192.217.104
$ whois slashdot.com
Registrant:
Chris Richardson (SLASHDOT-DOM)
345 South Mathilda Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
US
Domain Name: SLASHDOT.COM
Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Richardson, Chris (CR1294) chris@SLASHDOT.COM
+1 408 733 3326
Billing Contact:
Richardson, Chris (CR1294) chris@SLASHDOT.COM
+1 408 733 3326
Record last updated on 15-Nov-1999.
Record created on 17-Nov-1996.
Database last updated on 8-Dec-1999 15:24:38 EST.
Domain servers in listed order:
NS.2WIRE.COM 209.247.193.13
NS4.2WIRE.COM 166.90.140.53
NS3.2WIRE.COM 209.247.193.42
--------
"I already have all the latest software."
http://rs.internic.net/cgi- bin/whois/whois?slashdot.org which is redirected to http://www.network solutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois?slashdot.org seems to give out the information that it always had.
Just the other day I used it to find out that y0k.com through y11k.com are all taken. :-)
Have you read my journal today?
It's clear they really did the changeover so the majority of these kinds of lookups would be done over the web, where they conveniently have banner ads streaming while you use their convenient online database which takes 3-4 page loadings to get down to the real information.
Profiteering gluttons, the American way.
cyn, free software and *nix operating systems enthusiast.
I doubt it.
This isn't about privacy, it's about commerce. I'm sure NSI will be very agressive about selling the contact names to bulk email and snail mail advertisers.
My spell-checker suggests that the correct spelling of "whois" is actually "whoops." How appropriate.