Internet privacy

Thu Oct 2 21:01:53 UTC 2003

--On Thursday, October 2, 2003 2:50 PM -0600 Lyndon Nerenberg 
<lyndon at orthanc.ab.ca> wrote:

>
> On Thursday, October 2, 2003 1:22 PM -0700 Owen DeLong <owen at delong.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Because you don't need a domain name to live on the Ineternet.  If you
>> choose
>> to have a domain name, then, it's akin to hanging out your own shingle.
>> If you hang out a shingle, you have an obligation to provide a certain
>> amount
>> of contact information as a matter of public record.
>
> As a company director and officer I do not have to make my home address
> and telephone number available. I don't even have to make the company's
> office address or telephone number public. But I do have to provide an
> "office of record" where the company (or its officers and directors) can
> be served legal notice. Typically this is the address of the company's
> lawyer.
>
Right... I have no problem with that.

> There's no reason why domain registrations should be any different. I can
> think of many good reasons for someone not wanting their home address and
> telephone number listed in the domain contact info. (For starters, think
> spousal abuse. Your policy would prevent a woman hiding from an abusive
> spouse from registering a .name domain.)
>
If someone registers a domain and wants to pay their lawyer to be the 
contact
of record for the domain, there is nothing in existing policy or process
that prevents them from doing so.  Further, there is no need for such a
woman to register a domain under her own name.  The facilities already
exist for handling such situations.

> HOWEVER, there does need to be *some* form of valid contact information
> provided.

Right.

> Registrars might want to consider offering a point-of-contact
> intermediary service as a "value added" product.
>
I think this would be a very bad thing.  If some independent organization
wants to provide that service, fine.  Allowing registrars to provide it
allows for the possibility of a conflict of interest if any policies ever
come to fruition to allow revocation of resources for bad contact data.

Think about it, if you allow the registrar (who has the ultimate obligation
to pull the domain) to instead obscure their contact for a fee, then, you
have essentially eliminated any such protection.

Owen

> --lyndon