9 January 2006

Latest Blow to Privacy is Tremendous Boon for Spammers

by metavalent

<img src=”https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://awebcamdarkly.com/”s the email I received today, from a service that many people use in order to prevent SPAMMERS and other scumbags from harvesting our domain ownership information. Once again, in the name of make-believe-security, internet privacy is taking a tremendous hit. In actuality, all this will do is push domains away from .US and keep them in .com and other unregulated TLD space:

Date: 07:58 AM PST, 01/09/2006 From: “Domains By Proxy Notice” Subject: Important notice about your Private .US domain name

This is your final notice regarding the upcoming privacy changes to your .US domain name. If you have not yet reviewed this information, please take a moment to do so now.

Dear Subscriber,

In March, we notified you of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s decision ( www.ntia.doc.gov) to discontinue private registration of .US domain names. We strongly disagree with this decision and have worked to overturn it, but we are obligated to comply.

What does this mean to you? It means that on January 25, 2006 , your registrar will be required to replace Domains By Proxy’s® contact information with your personal contact information on your private .US domain name, making it publicly available in the WhoIs database. It also means that on that date, you will manage your .US domain name from within your registrar’s management interface and no longer from within Domains By Proxy’s® management interface.

We suggest you review the contact information provided to Domains By Proxy for your private .US domain name, to ensure you are comfortable with this information being made public. If you are not, you may want to update it with your business information, rather than your personal information.* To review your contact information, please log in to your Domains By Proxy® account.

Another option would be to privately register your domain name with a different extension, such as .COM, and (unfortunately) cancel your private .US name. To privately register your domain name with another extension, please contact your registrar.

Finally, if you are troubled by the NTIA’s decision — which unilaterally strips you of your right to privacy — please visit www.americansdeserveprivacy.com, where you’ll find detailed information on how to contact your elected representatives and voice your opposition. Of course, if you need to speak to someone at Domains By Proxy, please call 480-624-2599. We’re here 24 hours a day — every day!

Sincerely, The Domains By Proxy Team

Please remember that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration requires every US domain name registrant to provide accurate WhoIs information, and that Registrar’s are obligated, upon notification, to cancel domains utilizing false contact information.

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