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WHOIS blackout period likely starting in May

cooley.com

81–90 of 163 posts

Re: WHOIS blackout period likely starting in May

#81
post #6
post #2

domain registration data is in a weird place for the modern internet. I can see the value of having a real registry when it was first developed, but now it seems like a pretty easy way for people to shoot themselves in the foot with regards to privacy. Also, some registrars charge a premium for WHOIS privacy. It should not cost extra to have your legal name and address to be hidden from the entirety of the internet.

Do any registrars not charge a premium for Whois privacy? I know Hover doesn't have a separate Whois privacy entry price, but the base price at Hover seems to be about the price of a domain + Whois privacy at other registrars.

DreamHost doesn't charge for WHOIS privacy, and they have competitive domain prices.

Re: WHOIS blackout period likely starting in May

#82

In the short term WHOIS is going to be limited to just the registrant organization, state, country and a masked email address (Admin and Technical fields will be removed save email). This is short term to come into compliance with GDPR. Long term ICANN intends to create a privileged group (other registrars, law enforcement, etc) Who will be able to get to the full whois data. So a sort of tiered system. Expect this t…

> Long term ICANN intends to create a privileged group (other registrars, law enforcement, etc)

And trademark owners, of course. So that the Three Letter Corporation (TLC) can continue sending lawyers to wrestle away control over the domain of Theodore L. Clark's personal homepage initially set up in 1995 (and enthusiastically maintained since).

Because chaos and mayhem would result if there's even a single ccTLD where the "tlc" label is not assigned to the same one entity that just redirects it to their .com anyway.

Re: WHOIS blackout period likely starting in May

#83
This is stupid.

What happens next - do patents and copyrights have owner’s right to be forgotten?

If so, then who do you sue for stealing your copyright?

The intent is good - let me be clear about that. But the implementation is having second order affects that are going to f* with things in a big way because it wasn’t thought through as thoroughly as it should have been. *

* Key thought here is that it might be extremely difficult to think through all the second order effects, which suggests to me that a better phase in process should have been implemented.

EDIT - Not sure why this is being voted down. If i’m Not clear here, then please see my follow-on comment for (hopefully) a more clear view of my position. I’m not saying Whois is stupid - I’m saying GDPR is (due to the lack of thinking around second-order effects).

Re: WHOIS blackout period likely starting in May

#84
post #79

I really wish WHOIS would go away forever. There is absolutely no point to it. If you don’t pay to get your name private, you get SPAMMED to such an incredible degree, it’s absolutely awful. Literally 10+ calls a day, emails voicemails. So you have to buy the “privacy protection” thing, which defeats the whole purpose anyway. All WHOIS does is create an industry of people selling privacy to WHOIS. This whole narrativ…

Choose a registrar that doesn't charge you extra? Your name stays in, of course, but your (electronic and snail) mail addresses and phone number can be replaced by registrar-managed ones where they forward you incoming stuff and (mostly) keep the spam. It's a pretty common thing with European providers, I think.

For example namesilo doesn’t charge for privacy protection.

Re: WHOIS blackout period likely starting in May

#85
post #54
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you buy a house, your name and the purchase price are public information. Any one at any time can look up who owns a house, how much they paid for it, and how much they pay in property tax every year. I get a ton of spam because of this. However, I'd rather have this system than one in which all the owners are secret. I've had to look up owner information before to contact owners of various properties, and havin…

>I think it is a good thing that every domain has valid contact info. Does your "valid" include domain registrars that provide WHOIS protection that includes forwarding messages to the protected owner? And, honest question, why do you think that domains should have contact info?

When I used to work in security, I used Whois every day. In many cases it was to notify a domain owner that their domain had been compromised and was being used for spam. I also used it a lot to track down bad actors because most of them are dumb and don’t hide their Whois.

Re: WHOIS blackout period likely starting in May

#86
post #62

I don't understand the problem. When buying a domain you do so in ICANN's jurisdiction, under their terms. Actively and voluntarily forfeiting your right to privacy should trump statutory privacy. And if that isn't enough, ICANN can fix this without compromise. One mass email. "Respond expressly allowing us to publish your PII, or lose your domain."

Yeah, that's not how the law works, sorry about that. Every human has rights that cannot simply be waived because a website says so. Everyone has a right to privacy, and that's what the GDPR is about ensuring for EU subjects. Your thinking is extinct and I strongly suggest changing it, or fading away like everyone else who feels the same way.

> Everyone has a right to privacy

This is far from an absolute. Each country more or less dictates the rights of their people, and many countries do not directly provide this right. As an example, the Indian supreme court only declared it a right last year, and most articles talking about it only list a very select few other countries as ones that provide this right.

Re: WHOIS blackout period likely starting in May

#88
post #83

This is stupid. What happens next - do patents and copyrights have owner’s right to be forgotten? If so, then who do you sue for stealing your copyright? The intent is good - let me be clear about that. But the implementation is having second order affects that are going to f * with things in a big way because it wasn’t thought through as thoroughly as it should have been. * * Key thought here is that it might be ext…

I don't understand how any of those are remotely related to whois being removed. It's not like it represented anyone that could feasibly be sued before, just a whoisguard service, usually

Re: WHOIS blackout period likely starting in May

#89
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Choose a registrar that doesn't charge you extra? Your name stays in, of course, but your (electronic and snail) mail addresses and phone number can be replaced by registrar-managed ones where they forward you incoming stuff and (mostly) keep the spam. It's a pretty common thing with European providers, I think.

For example namesilo doesn’t charge for privacy protection.

Namesilo are fantastic.

Re: WHOIS blackout period likely starting in May

#90
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but at least the shell company forwards on the messages. And most people don't do it because it's a hassle.

And you lose a 250-500k capital gains exemption if you sell the house and it's not owned & lived in by you directly AFAIK The issue with this system is it also lets people look up where you live by name alone, which can be bad if you want to own your house and have a stalker problem. The map works 2 ways.

Not true with a revocable trust, which costs under $1000 to establish and provides all the same benefits of owning the real estate directly without disclosing ownership.

Disclaimer: Applies primarily to IL and FL, not an attorney, nor your attorney.

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