Re: [ga] Registrars as censors?

[Karl Auerbach <karl@CaveBear.com>]

On Wed, 12 Feb 2003, Sotiris Sotiropoulos wrote:

> "Computer Service Langenbach, which operates the Joker.com registrar in
> Dusseldorf, Germany, yanked the Ogrish.com domain name from its database
> this week in response to a request from a German prosecutor, said the
> hosting service and the owner of the site Tuesday."

This came up previously in the Napster wars - some copyright folks 
realized that it would be a lot easier to shut down Napster if they could 
just get the domain name yanked.

I disagree with the implication that registration of a name is equivalent
to use of that name, and that if a use is found to be wrong that the
remedy is to remove the registration.  The remedy ought to be to require
the cesation of the offending use.

The second thing that irks me is the continuing implication that the
world-wide-web is the Internet and vice versa.  Any evaluation of how a
domain name is used really ought to examine all uses not merely those
available via an http TCP connection to port 80 (and I'm not even going to
go into virtual servers occupying the same IP address. ;-)

		--karl--


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