On 01/09/2011 10:37 AM, John R. Levine wrote:
Sigh. In what fantasy world do you imagine that there is a process to implement this?
It could be done with an automated system that requires a credit card for posting the bond and a couple of web forms to collect the information from the person making the inquiry - and it would need something behind that form to do a mild analysis of the input to try to weed out nonsense input. This kind of system could easily be tiered so that big-time investigators could have a way to cover a lot of domains at one time - for instance intellectual property protection firms could have a pre-established inquiry account, be pre-identified, and a blanket bond. If those who are penetrating people's privacy are allowed are excused on the grounds that "it is just too troublesome" then I don't have much concern if domain name registrants similarly find it just too troublesome to make up registration information or hid it behind layers of impenetrable corporate structures.
On the other hand, if you're proposing that people have to appear in person to a government official and verify their identity before they can register a domain, that's not a bad idea.
It's kind of moving that way isn't it? I find it too bad that that kind of requirement is not required here in the US for things, such as weapons, that have rather more lethal potential than a domain name. --karl--