> On Thu, May 09, 2002 at 07:10:40PM -0400, jyclee wrote: > > > > I can understand the need for accurate information, however I think > > information like telephone number and email is not necessary for a public > > "whois" since it's only used for communication between registras. The > > That's just wrong. I regularly use whois information to collect contact > information for new customers moving to my hosting service. That's > entirely apart from anything registrar-related. Assuming the data is > correct, I don't have to waste time on the phone collecting data (which > I will likely mis-spell) for his contact information.
?. isn't it normal business practice to collect contact information for your new customers when they sign up. How do you plan on billing them??? I have no idea what you are talking about. > > decision of whether email and telephone should be viewable to public whois > > should be optional. > > Absolutely not. The information is there as reference material. > > Get a phone number that only collects voicemail. Grab a JFAX line, > and get your voicemail in your email. You CAN put barriers in place. > They may be more expensive than your budget permits, but they exist. Again it would be easier to just allow the option of including a phone number. > > social security number is necessary but it's not generally available to the > > public and you are protected by telephone solicitations by law and you can > > always get an unlisted number. You have far fewer rights and protections > > when it comes to domain names. > > If "protection" from telephone solicitations was your legal right, there > would be laws that could be enforced to stop the solicitations. The > fact that valid contact information should be on public record SHOULD > be unrelated to the ethics of rabid capitalists who would rather make > a buck than respect your privacy. laws do exist to protect against telephone solicitations but because it's a public whois, you don't need to get a license to telemarket. You can mine the information and use it at leisure since there are no protections on the information contained in the public whois. I know alot of you are quick to point about abuse and a way to contact the domain owner of the abuse. The fact still remains however a very small percentage of people actually abuse domain names. most individuals will park domains for future use (not use it at all) or have actual legitamite websites. People who do have malicious intent, I doubt contacting them thru email or voicemail will really solve your problems. If you have a legal reason to contact the domain owner, the postal address is more than adequate and I assure you, that is the only way you will solve your problem from a malicious individual aside of course from contacting the isp,etc.
