Re: [ga] whois.txt, ala robots.txt, as a standard ?

["Ross Wm. Rader" <ross@tucows.com>]

Ram.

> Interesting thoughts and an interesting premise.  The problem is, that the
> groups you mention here (marketers, IP folks, etc) are not the only people
> who utilize Whois information.

I hear what you're saying, but you forget that the pendulum is mine. The
data is mine. There is no legitimate use beyond what I approve.

If it holds true for the marketers, why does it prove false for me?

> System operators (including technicians, systems administrators responding
> to abuse, etc) often depend solely on information found in Whois to
> determine next courses of action for serious network and other related
> issues.  This is not just a marketing/bulk messages problem ... there is
> real and legitimate use of this information (which was one of the original
> goals of having such a service).

Legitimate uses find their way through legitimate channels. We don't need to
create additional safeguards for any party to the system.

> Having said that, I was one of the team who worked with PIR to suggest the
> "OrgCloak" service -- which would allow individuals to cloak personal
> information from the general public for reasons of privacy.  I advocate
the
> protection of individual's private information from general purpose
> data-mining and public abuse.  However, your suggested solution provides a
> wonderful shelter for every spammer, DDoS violator and domain-slammer to
> hide behind.

Orgcloak and other proxy-like systems simply miss the boat. It is not your
information and I don't want your protection. As a matter of fact, let the
record show that the domain name byte.org is mine. The internet record will
support this. I have cloaked my record and have no intention of correcting
the information included in the record - period. If someone is interested in
contacting me for "legal reasons", they can do a google search, track down
my particulars - or - more appropriately - subpoena my registrar and get the
information the same way we did in the good old days. If you wish to use my
data for other purposes, please contact me through the aforementioned means
for an appropriate license.

> The Whois Task Force is working on providing meaningful recommendations
> that, among other things, addresses the issue of Bulk Whois.  The IETF
> Provreg group is debating adding a <privacy> element as a standard part of
> the de-facto standard domain protocol (EPP).  Let's be careful not to
throw
> the baby out with the bath water.

Neither the whois task force nor the IETF are remotely dealing with what I
am proposing. Until they are, customers need to look after themselves. If we
were talking about IP addresses, you'd probably get a lot more agreement out
of me. Corporate interests sold customers down the river a long time ago. We
don't need to perpetuate this forever.

Regards,


                      -rwr


"There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an
idiot."
                - Steven Wright

Got Blog? http://www.byte.org


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