Ross Rader wrote:
I wasn't taking a position with my note. Not sure why you are making such an assumption.
Plainly, this is good old fashioned procedural advice from someone who has been there.
I'm simply saying that if you are worried about preventing criminals from registering tons of domains as the article describes, then the policy discussion will have to be broader than what Danny's prescription allows. If you are interested in more accurate whois, then Danny's prescription will be just fine. My assumption is that the public interest will be better served by dealing more broadly with the issue and is rooted in the observation that many times Visa has a hard time verifying whether or not it is a cardholder presenting data or if its a criminal posing as the cardholder.
You're mixing two distinct issues -- the accuracy of data and the legitimacy of its ownership. At least the credit card companies know whether it's an accurate card, by making sure than the name, number, expiry and CVV match. They can verify accuracy of the data, their problem is whether the presenter is the legitimate owner of the data. There are two parts to this -- accuracy and legitimate ownership. Both are necessary. But there's no point in establishing legitimacy if the data isn't accurate. So it's reasonable to tackle the accuracy issue first. Sure, someone could put the exact address of Wrigley Field as their WHOIS contact information and that would pass the accuracy test; but there are ways to ensure that the data entered belongs to its presenter. Even automated mailing lists can send verification emails for subscription requests, and don't validate the request until the mail is answered. Google uses a more elaborate method, that involves postal mail, to verify the legitimacy of businesses wanting to be located on Google Map requests. It's not enough to give a proper address; you actually have to be able to receive mail there. And I'm sure there are even more elaborate methods... but the fact exists that we're not doing ANY of this now. I believe that we have a really good idea of what needs to be done. If I'm wrong that's fine, but please make your case if otherwise. - Evan