Domain privacy

Domain privacy is a service offered by a number of domain name registrars. A user buys privacy from the company, who in turn replaces the user's info in the WHOIS with the info of a forwarding service (for email and sometimes postal mail, done by a proxy server) such as "Domains by Proxy, Inc." or eNom's "Whois Privacy Protection Service".

Level of anonymity

• Personal information is typically collected by these registrars to provide the service. And to some, registrars like Domains by Proxy take little persuasion to release so-called 'private' information to the world, requiring only a phone request or cease and desist letter.^[1][2][3]
• Others, however, treat privacy more seriously, and host domain names offshore, even using e-gold or money orders in transactions so that the registrar has no knowledge of the personal information about the domain name owner in the first place (which would otherwise be transmitted along with credit card transactions).

Note some domain extensions have privacy caveats:

• In March 2005, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has said that all owners of .us domains will not have the option of keeping their information private, and that it must be made public.
• As of June 10, 2008, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority no longer posted registration details of individuals associated with .ca domains.

The need for privacy

Currently the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) broadly requires that the mailing address, phone number and e-mail address of those owning/managing a domain name to be made publicly available through the "WHOIS" directories. However, that policy enables spammers, direct marketers, identity thieves, or other attackers to loot the directory for personal information about these people. Although ICANN has been exploring changing WHOIS to enable greater privacy, there is a lack of consensus among major stakeholders as to what type of change should be made.

Litigation

With "private registration", the private registration service can be the legal owner of the domain. This has occasionally resulted in legal problems. Ownership of a domain name is given by the organization name of the owner contact in the domain's Whois record. There are typically four contact positions in a domain's Whois record, Owner, Administrator, Billing, and Technical. Some registrars will not shield the Owner organization name in order to protect the ownership of the domain name.

In a trademark infringement case, a 2009 United States District Court ruling in U.S.A. held that, for domains with "private registration", the privacy service is legally the "owner" of the domain. The privacy service acts as the "cyber-landlord of the Internet real estate", and the domain is "licensed" to the customer of the privacy service.^[4]

Ownership of domains held by a privacy service was also an issue in the RegisterFly case, in which a registrar effectively ceased operations and then went bankrupt. Customers encountered serious difficulties in regaining control of the domains involved.^[5] ICANN has since remedied that situation by requiring all accredited registrars maintain their customer's contact data in escrow. In the event a registrar loses its accreditation, gTLD domains along with the escrowed contact data will be transferred to another accredited registrar.

See also

• Domain slamming
• Privacy
• Anonymity

References

1. ^ "Private domains not so private?". CNET News.com. 2005-08-15. http://news.com.com/Private+domains+not+so+private/2100-1038_3-5833663.html. 
2. ^ Thomas Roessler (2003-04-15). "More on Domains By Proxy". http://log.does-not-exist.org/archives/2003/04/15/299_more_on_domains_by_proxy.html. 
3. ^ Wendy Seltzer (2003-04-11). "proxy fight [Domains-by-proxy update]". http://wendy.seltzer.org/blog/archives/2003/04/11/proxy_fight_domains_by_proxy_update.html. Retrieved 2008-06-16. 
4. ^ Morrow, Margaret M, United States District Judge (2009-05/19). Solid Host vs. NameCheap, Order Denying Motion to Dismiss. United States District Court, Central District of California. http://www.circleid.com/pdf/solidhostnamecheap.pdf. 
5. ^ Computer Business Review Online, Anger and fear as domain firm slowly implodes, February 21, 2007

External links

• WHOIS Task Force 2 -- Proxy Registration (and related) Services (contains a list of services)
• Domain owners lose privacy — Wired News article about .us domains