[At-Large] protecting domain speculators from oversight

[Karl Auerbach]

On 01/23/2013 07:42 PM, John R. Levine wrote:
>> As I have mentioned, if one can seal or opt out of publication of gun
>> ownership data then the case is even stronger that WHOIS data should be
>> sealed or that people should be able to opt-out.
> 
> Hi, Karl.  Does this also apply to the 99.99% or so of domains whose 
> registrants are not natural persons?  I'm thinking, for example, of the 
> large pools of domains you mentioned a few days ago that belong to your 
> clients who use them for monetized typosquats.

Except for the accusation of "typosquating" - an accusation that is for
the most part imaginary and unfounded - yes, if gun registrations are
private than so should be domain registrations.

If records of registration of instrumentalities of mayhem and death are
worthy of privacy than it stands to reason that registration of mere
domain names is even more worthy of privacy.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a matter of consistency.  One can be
consistent and support privacy for both guns and domains, or for open
access to both gun records and domain records, or even for open gun
records and closed domain records.  But the position of closed gun
records and open domain records is an inversion of the principle that
the more dangerous a thing is the more that the public should know about it.

	--karl--