Comments on: Domain Name Whois System Is Broken

By: Jodi

Jodi — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 04:50:17 +0000

“The internet is strongly known for fraud”

PRECISELY. You justified why smart people do NOT put their personal information out on the GLOBAL INTERNET for every spammer and scam artist in Russia and China and elsewhere to feed off of.

When WHOIS becomes private, as a default, then I shall trust my registrar to hold my REAL information.

The REAL problem with WHOIS is the collection and THEFT of the searches performed — thereby allowing people to steal your search and register your domain name idea prior to you finishing up your due-diligence on that name or obtaining funding for purchase or whatever. Its quite obvious that our searches are stolen, sold and registered right from under our noses.

There is a LOT about the domain name industry which needs to become transparent. WHOIS is one of them – yes. Pay Per Click programs and the folks that run them are another.

I could go on and on and on about the lack of transparency in the domain name world. Leave our personal information out of it though.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:08:46 +0000

I really don’t think this is a problem. Whois is only one way to identify the owner of the domain, the registrar will have correct billing and contact information if there really is a problem. If that information is fraudulent then it’s a law enforcement issue not a regulatory one. Having incorrect or incomplete whois info is already against the rules and you can lose your domain because of it.

A DMV like system for whois info?? Surely you can’t be serious.

By: Jamie Zoch

Jamie Zoch — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:07:57 +0000

@Mark
I hear you but I also want to make people aware of the situation. I also think when it happens to you, one has a stronger feeling about it.

By: Mark Ford

Mark Ford — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:56:31 +0000

Personally, I think you’re worrying too much. No one’s going to sue you, let alone win if the domain has nothing to do with you.

By: Adam Strong

Adam Strong — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:56:08 +0000

Jamie, While I can see your point on whois being broken, I’m afraid there’s really not a great fix that won’t upset someone else’s apple cart.

I think John has done a great deal of work in this area and it’s been explored in depth by several ICANN constituencies. Remember, you can get involved too through ICANN.

By: Choz Eimaj

Choz Eimaj — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:29:41 +0000

@Jaime,

If there was NO whois db, there would NO incorrect data to complain about, no?

By: Jamie Zoch

Jamie Zoch — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:13:16 +0000

@Choz,
There are two sides to every story and you are clearly entitled to your opinion. A whois db is needed IMO and it needs to be that you can not change your whois data to whoever you want to be. I should not be able to just grab “somebodies” contact data and input it into the domain names I own or just “certain domains” and like wise.

By: Choz Eimaj

Choz Eimaj — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:55:14 +0000

I don’t think there should be a “Who is” database at all.

If they start requiring ID, utility bills, etc., you’ll see domain sales fall off a cliff, making most of your domain holdings worth less than half of what they are today.

Think before you type up senseless articles such as this one.

By: Jamie Zoch

Jamie Zoch — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:24:30 +0000

I agree it is not fun giving any company a bunch of info about yourself but on the flip side of the coin, what stops somebody from using YOUR data as the data they use in whois? Fraudulent or not, when your contact information is used for a domain name you do not own, by somebody, that is not right.

By: sipbkk

sipbkk — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:09:03 +0000

I like the system the way it is – if you want to be semi-anonymous you can. I’m with Ross, I’m not real keen about giving out any information to anyone.

If the registrars want to “verify” someone, a simple postcard to a Snailmail address should be good enough, and should work internationally as well.

By: Ross

Ross — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:41:35 +0000

Yes, because no one can ever steal someone’s identity and use it to register a domain name. Your thought while good natured is seriously flawed.

Not only that but part of free speech is anonymous speech which is what makes the internet great. People always propose new laws and regulations under the guise of protecting the people, example is violent video games being banned in Australia to “protect” the children. It is a slippery slope I’d rather not see the industry go down.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:17:12 +0000

Some kind of DMV like, pre-registration verification is a great idea. Hopefully something like this will be put into play soon, transparency is your friend.

By: Jamie Zoch

Jamie Zoch — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:54:33 +0000

I hear you John. As I stated, “this may need some tweaking, but you get my point”. Domain names are registered differently as well based on extension, so the verification will likely need to be different based on the country. I can tell you one thing for sure, the current system is broken! How can a person from India, be allowed to input whois data to include a US business address? Something like this should be an easy red flag via IP but currently is not. I know IP’s can be masked as well, but most of the time these people also do not cover all tracks.

By: jberryhill

jberryhill — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:38:43 +0000

“The last 4 digits of your social security number”

Yes, because only people in the United States register domains. When you figure out an internationally uniform method of identification, let us know.