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When you put it that way, I nod in agreement. But at the same time, I reflect upon the days of the phone book, which most people on this board likely never kne
by lloyddobbler 8y ago
When you put it that way, I nod in agreement.
But at the same time, I reflect upon the days of the phone book, which most people on this board likely never knew. Your phone number and address would be listed by the phone company as part of your phone number subscription - an unlisted number would cost you more.
While times of change, and the searchability of the digital world does raise some other concerns, I still wonder how big a deal it is for ICANN to require this. Is it really revealing "all of your personal information" if you reveal the PO box, spam-trap "domains@" email address, and phone number of the domain owner?
If the registrar were revealing other info, I'd say "it's pretty absurd." But by default allowing people the info to contact you, as the owner of a domain name? That doesn't seem like extortion. Heck, if you own any real estate in the U.S., your contact info is listed in the tax assessor's database for all to find, same as in the WHOIS database.
Regardless, definitely an interesting topic to chew on.
- freehunter 8y agoNot everyone has a PO Box, they cost actual real money. Not everyone has a public/business phone number, those cost actual real money. Requiring another phone number and a PO Box means domains go from costing $10/year to $250/year. You can allow people to contact an owner without giving out their information. Craigslist does it.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- lloyddobbler 8y agoNot everyone has a domain name, they cost actual real money. The question comes down to: is owning a domain like owning a computer (a commodity)? Or is owning a domain more akin to owning a phone (landline), or real estate, or a business? If the former, privacy should generally be assumed by default. If the latter, I think it's worth questioning whether it should be. To your point, the price doesn't escalate to $250/yr. It escalates to $10/year plus ~$2-5/yr for privacy protection. That's what we've been talking about this whole time - SHOULD you have to pay a premium for an "unlisted number"? Luckily for those concerned with privacy, companies like Namecheap, Google, Namesilo, and a few others are now offering this by default, making that discussion irrelevant.
- kinsomo 8y ago> Not everyone has a public/business phone number, those cost actual real money No. Google Voice numbers are free, I use one as the throwaway phone number for my personal domains. https://www.google.com/voice https://www.google.com/voice
- corobo 8y agoI do similar - cheap burner phone number attached to a voicemail. I'll check the voicemail occasionally so it's a legit whois record but it's only ever people trying to sell web design services
- Nadya 8y agoI exist as a pseudonymous individual online. Nobody has any right to know my phone number or name just because I wish to have a website. Nobody has any right to be able to contact me just because I own a domain. If I wanted to be contacted I would list methods on how to do so. Coincidentally, I do just that on my website and without doxxing myself in the process. There is no justification or purpose for that information being public. I shouldn't need to buy a burner phone or a PO box to remain anonymous. Not to mention the chilling effect on speech it would have.