Tag: whois

Jun252015 by editorNo Comments

ICANN’s Proposed Changes to WHOIS Rules could Jeopardize Privacy

A proposed change by ICANN to the way that registrars treat the private contact details for domain owners could make it easier for anyone to get information on people who use proxy services. The potential change comes in the form of a document from a working group of the Generic Names Supporting Organization at ICANN, the group that oversees Internet names and numbers. The working group is considering a number of changes to the way that privacy and proxy services operate, are accredited, and handle requests for registrant details from various organizations. The main driver for this is copyright infringement issues and the working group has put together a proposed framework to handle such requests, but the issue is a divisive one, both inside the working group itself and among outside obs

Mar182015 by editorNo Comments

Epic Google snafu leaks hidden whois data for 280,000 domains

Cyber Security, Domains, Internet

Google accidentally leaked hundreds of thousands of whois customers' personal details — and didn't notice for 2 years Google has accidentally leaked the personal details of more than 280,000 customers, Ars Technica reports. The fault first appeared back in mid-2013 — but it has only recently been discovered and fixed, meaning people have been at risk for years. Identified by security researchers at Cisco, the vulnerability affects websites registered via Google Apps for work, using the registrar eNom. The owners of the websites in question had all opted into "WHOIS privacy protection," which means that when someone WHOISes — or queries — the website, the personal details of the individual who registered it are hidden. You might use the service if you're an anonymous political blogger, o

Mar282014 by editorNo Comments

ICANN’s capacity to clamp down on budget-busting sunrise fees put on radar

Domains, Governance

It was inevitable that the issue of gTLD registries charging trademark owners excessive sunrise fees to register names in gTLD sunrise periods would be high on the agenda of the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC). At today’s ICANN meeting in Singapore, however, ICANN’s ability to clamp down and prevent brand owners from being held to ransom was in doubt. Read more as writen by Trevor Little for worldtrademarkreview.com

Sep252013 by editorNo Comments

ICANN Study on Whois Privacy & Proxy Service Abuse

Cyber Security

ICANN is seeking Public Comments solicitation represents an opportunity for the community to consider the study results detailed in this report, provide feedback and request further clarifications. In parallel, ICANN and NPL will conduct Webinars to facilitate feedback by summarizing this study’s purpose, methodology, key findings, and conclusions. Purpose (Brief): This study, conducted by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the United Kingdom, analyzes gTLD domain names to measure whether the percentage of privacy/proxy use among domains engaged in illegal or harmful Internet activities is significantly greater than among domain names used for lawful Internet activities. Furthermore, this study compares these privacy/proxy percentages to other methods used to obscure identity –