Domain name ownership privacy dangers

Every domain name owner in the world is asked to provide their contact information upon registration. It’s then possible for other people to know exactly who the name belongs to.

That information can be queried from anyone providing access to the “whois database”, usually through a server-side script like this one — this particular tool is not linked with any registrar and as such, is designated as “bulk whois query tool”.

Privacy advocates are quick to point out this may be considered an invasion of the domain owners’ private lives because some individuals make unacceptable uses of such contact information which is made freely available. For instance, think of all the “anonymous” junk marketers who harvest their e-mail databases directly from the whois databases, around the world — they’re clearly abusing the goodwill of the whole system.

But, many other people have legitimate uses of the whois listings. They should be served relevant, up-to-date and complete contact data pertaining to the ownership of any domain name, especially the gTLD.

After all, when you’re curious to see who owns the prestigious “cnn.com” domain name, it’s cool to see the -real- information. In this case, it’s Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Please note you’re seeing this information from a bulk query for the domain ownership or, if you want, you didn’t have to specifically go to the registrar’s own whois query tool to browse the data.

Do all registrars feel good about sharing the domain name owner’s contact information?

Most registrars find many benefits to the current ICANN rules but others beg to differ.

Take Herndon, VA based Network Solutions who is looking to have things changed by lobbying the ICANN for new bulk whois access rules. The following says a lot on how NetSol sees things in terms of whois bulk access:

“Network Solutions is lobbying for the elimination of the Bulk WHOIS access requirement by ICANN. If our proposal is accepted, the requirement to make Bulk WHOIS information available to third parties will be eliminated.”

So there you have it, a major registrar is fighting the Internet Committee for Assigned Names and Numbers to have the right to “protect” their domain name customers from having their whois data mined from another registrar’s query tool. Is NetSol acting to solely help its customers? Perhaps a little bit but the driving force behind this bold move may be more economic than anything else.

This is what NetSol instantly gains by shutting down the bulk access to its whois information:

1. Less queries to its own servers (major bandwidth and resources economy);
2. Absolute exclusivity of all whois queries to its customer’s data — this creates traffic streams which may have never considered visiting NetSol otherwise;
3. Opportunity for NetSol to sell “privacy protection” services to its customers, which goes the opposite way from the Internet’s general rule of openness therefore generating new problems;
4. On a global scale, it’s another way for NetSol to regain some of the powers the ICANN has acquired in the recent years for the management of the gTLDs.

Anyone following the domain name insider news knows NetSol and the ICANN have opposing views on many subjects. The first being more of a monopolistic, expensive and generally introverted entity and the second being a largely respected, open and accountable tribune for overseeing the way domain names are managed worldwide.

NetSol’s latest pledge for domain name owner privacy may be counted as yet another trick to “get more while giving less”, true to what can be interpreted as its “overly capitalistic” history.

Let’s be clear, when NetSol had the world monopoly of selling .coms, they milked their cow all they could, selling domains at 100$US per year… nowadays, thanks to the end of their monopoly, the same names can be renewed for under 10$US per year.

The numbers speak for themselves.

Whatever your opinion on NetSol, the fact remains that they’re campaigning to gun down the bulk whois access. To the average Joe out there, just looking to easily find the whois information he’s looking for, it’s very bad news. This basic principle of trying to restrict the free movement of information appear fishy, given the Internet is all about reaching out to the world.

Don’t count on NetSol to become a team player anytime soon. They launched a http://www.internetprivacyadvocate.org in 2003, to focus on consumer Internet privacy issues. That’s when NetSol introduced “private domain name registration”:

“The new Private Registration service allows customers to provide accurate contact information when registering a domain name, but keep their personal information – such as their address, phone number and email address – secure from public view to people searching the WHOIS database.”

Properly managed, this could be an acceptable service. If anything, the ICANN itself should be in charge of overseeing this kind of service doesn’t abuse someone else’s right to domain name ownership information. Leaving such a critical initiative up to a single registrar doesn’t make much sense, from a global perspective.

In my view, all whois information should always be fully available to the public. It’s the central registry for domain names. How can hiding owners identity help trade? If there are a few drawbacks like spam, let’s work on that problem without compromising the current system, which happens to work well for the vast majority of people.

Do we really want to be part of a globally anonymous Internet where nobody knows who owns what?

I don’t think so.

Unless there’s a very good reason which I can’t currently think of, only cowards and criminals may be tempted by NetSol’s Private Registration options. If you can’t stand up to your own name, what are you worth? Really?

What’s your opinion on all this domain name privacy, bulk whois access and private registration issues?