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

[George Kirikos <gkirikos@yahoo.com>]

Hello,

--- Karl Auerbach <karl@CaveBear.com> wrote:
> The legal system has been able to deal (albeit sometimes slowly) with
> anonymous and hidden identies.  Essentially the one who claims that
> his/her rights are being infringed initiates a legal proceeding that

I have to agree with Marilyn's position, and disagree with others who
seem to expect an "absolute" privacy right. The above is pushing the
costs of the desire by some for privacy onto the victims, and
protecting the perpetrators.

Pragmatically, those who legitimately seek greater privacy, because
they want to protect their children, or for other reasons, and find
their privacy "priceless" can go for Domains By Proxy, or other
solutions. Some may say that this is one more step of indirection, and
they want to "control" their domain, but they don't -- they already go
through a registrar, and in many cases a reseller, and then through a
registry, which is beholden to ICANN, which is ultimately created by
the US government, so they're 4 or 5 steps away from "control". Adding
one more step only hurts their pocketbook by a couple of bucks a year.

So, for those who are arguing for greater privacy:

1) What economic value do you place on that privacy? Name the annual
dollar benefit you think you'd receive if you didn't have to publish
your personal info in the WHOIS, compared to the status quo.

2) a) If that value is greater than the premium charged by Domains by
Proxy, etc., what's the big deal? Why should others (society at large)
have to suffer increased legal costs, and other problems, due to your
personal desire to save a couple of bucks?
b) If that value is less than the price of Domains by Proxy, then you
have no leg to stand on, i.e. privacy isn't really important to you.

Amongst those who value "privacy" the most are those who seek to commit
abuse on the net (others have legitimate desires too, but they can go
for 2.a)). The abusers wouldn't last long as Domains by Proxy would
become responsible for their activities, so they'd be shut down, or
revealed.

So, ultimately, folks who want greater privacy should show:

1) that the social costs of greater abuse, legal costs, greater
uncertainty over who one is dealing with, etc. due to that proportion
of "privacy seekers" who will abuse their hidden identities are
outweighed by the benefits of extra privacy.

2) Since the benefits of extra privacy can be achieved by low cost
mechanisms such as Domains by Proxy, where there is a published and
responsible legal entity (or through publication only of a "Legal
Contact", which I've argued for before), why society at large should
pick absolute privacy, over this existing mechanism? 

Sincerely,

George Kirikos
http://www.kirikos.com/

P.S. The whois.txt stuff was unrelated to privacy, as it was entirely
optional, just another way to help others who want to be "found" build
connections with others.
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