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."

Re:Open access for all

[voidptr]

Nobody made you purchase that domain. Purchasing a domain puts your information into a public database. You knew that when you did it.

Personally, I think Whois is important. I've had problems with other network sites before as a systems admin, and needed whois to locate the responsible person on the other end. RP records work only if you can get to their DNS server. Yes, it gets abused, but the benefit outweighs the costs IMO.

Re:Open access for all

[Muggins the Mad]

>> "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

Re:Open access for all

[Muggins the Mad]

>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?"

Re:Limiting Queries

[HerrNewton]

As an added bonus, this would also put a damper on dictionary bots that scan for available (or soon expiring) domains.

----

Re:Open access for all

[thogard]

You seem to be living in a world of delusion.
There are lots of people who know where you live.

Details such as your name and address are not personal details no matter how much you would like to think they are. Your name is public info and got there when your birth certificate was filled out. The facts of your birth were also recorded in your local newspaper and by a number of churuches such as the one your parents attened or by the Mormans or monks that just seem to have some bit about recording these things.

Your address is public info. With out using any databases, it should be fairly easy to track down your address. Once again that is public info. You can disclose it and your land lord can disclose it. If you bought a house, that goes in the public record as well. Also once you tell someone where you live, that info is in the public domain and so you don't own it. Just because the law says its protected information, the law can do nothing to protect data in the public domain.

Re:Open access for all

[L-Train8]

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.

Re:Guess what? The survey form doesn't work!

[kilroy666]

If you are using Junkbusters or another proxy, it might be blocking something the submission needed.

The same error happened to me. I turned off my proxy and it submitted just fine.

restrictions

[www.sorehands.com]

The use of the information should be restricted.

Not have it allowed to be used for SPAM. This includes SPAM by NSI.

Limiting Queries

[defective]

How about setting up some sort of limit on queries... like you can only do 10 queries an hour from a single IP address. I'm not saying that's the answer, but I imagine they can figure out some anti-spam algorithm to facilitate allowing only lagit queries.

Guess what? The survey form doesn't work!

[satch89450]

I just tried to fill in the survey, and when I press Submit I get "Error: Unsupported method."

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Open access for all

[mollusk]

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.

Re:Open access for all

[TWX_the_Linux_Zealot]

"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.

I like the database being open, for it isn't just a government-accessible set of records, it's world accessible. Because it's so open, it helps for fairness in dealing with registrars and ICANN more than otherwise, or so I believe.

"Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."

Re:Open access for all

[banuaba]

They sell the entire list for one low low fee.
Brant

Ulterior motives?

[return 42]

The Register [theregister.co.uk] has an article [theregister.co.uk] up questioning ICANN's motives and suggesting that they plan to twist the survey results to suit their own purposes. But I'm sure ICANN would never do that...</sarcasm>