.us Is .US going to be clamped down?

[mole]

Understand that the email sent out by eNom today will be followed by a complete check of the whois for Nexus violations. There goes the baby with the bathwater. :bingo:

Dear eNom reseller,

.US has made a dramatic change in their policy saying (in part):

"The United States Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration ("NTIA") has recently completed its review of "proxy" or anonymous domain registration services by .us Accredited Registrars. At the conclusion of this review, NTIA directed NeuStar to phase out the offering of such services by Registrars or by any of its partners or resellers and to ensure that complete and accurate WHOIS data is provided for any existing registrations in .us."

Although we disagree with this policy, we will comply and will require our resellers and sub-resellers to make the necessary changes. Therefore, we will prohibit the offering of eNom's ID Protect or similar services to .US registrations. This policy takes effect immediately and ONLY applies to .US registrations.

The service will continue to be provided for existing .US ID protect customers until their ID protect expiration date or January 26, 2006, whichever comes first.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

eNom Technology Support & Partner Services
425-274-4500 ext. 3
www.enom.com

 

[Mark]

Hmm ~ Me thinks it may get kind of awkward for some Out of Towners (From .Us That is) -

Could you imagine the mess if "All" Country Extensions were in the same boat ?

 

[mole]

Could you imagine the mess if "All" Country Extensions were in the same boat ?

Yes, cctlds are kinda cranky for investments into the mid-long term. You just never know when some local government is going to have PMS.

.CN for example, is suspect, all it takes is a clamp down, and piff!

I suspect the upcoming .EU will be full of crankiness. Already, they are saying that you can only register 1 year in advance.

Then again, .CO.UK may just vaporize if .UK is launched, not now, but maybe 2 years from now.

Best to keep within the GTLD space of .INFO, .BIZ, .COM, .NET, .ORG if you are thinking mid-long term. :wave:

The Internet is a convergent pot for the world, and the cctld Tower of Babel and Berlin Wall separations seems contrary with this notion.

 

[IAmAllanShore]

There are some countries that you just expect to be more cranky than others:
US
Canada
China (Maybe, but they might over-correct and be really friendly)
UK
EU (not a country, I know, but the Union is being quite difficult on many fronts)
Russia

Well, I guess that's all of them (Just picking on you, Guam)

-Allan

 

[-db-]

I'm a fan and supporter of whois privacy, and I use the services at multiple registrars. Since using them, the amount of email SPAM I receive has dropped to almost nothing. The system really does work. Not to mention my home phone# and other personal information is no longer out there for everybody to grab.

So, naturally I'm disappointed by this.

But I certainly don't see the lack of whois privacy affecting the value or viability of .US domains, either short or long term. For me personally, it just means using an office P.O. Box and cell phone, instead of listing my personal home information.

The good news, I suppose, is that it won't take effect until 2006, or when current privacy protection purchases expire.

A possible 'positive' note - maybe this will help weed out some of the people in other countries who have scooped up many good .US domains, but have no .US citizenship, no business concerns in America (etc. NEXUS etc.), and are technically not eligible to have .US domain in the first place. Thoughts?

 

[mole]

A possible 'positive' note - maybe this will help weed out some of the people in other countries who have scooped up many good .US domains, but have no .US citizenship, no business concerns in America (etc. NEXUS etc.), and are technically not eligible to have .US domain in the first place. Thoughts?

Besides Al Quida and Iran, who doesn't qualify? :hehe:

 

[-db-]

Hehe... Mole. :hehe:

 

[Mark]

A possible 'positive' note - maybe this will help weed out some of the people in other countries who have scooped up many good .US domains, but have no .US citizenship, no business concerns in America (etc. NEXUS etc.), and are technically not eligible to have .US domain in the first place. Thoughts?

Thats where my mind roamed immediately - Know lots of folks abroad who have reg'd them .... Could get messy 8-X

 

[Anthony]

Well, I don't see how anyone without US ties should be surprised, considering the restrictions were made clear while registering at most registrars. But anyway, let's see how this whole thing goes down.

 

[dgridley]

Maybe they'll clamp down on .name next... there are MANY that aren't personal names that have been regged.

As for the .US extension, it's no surprise.. I'm MORE surprised when a country allows open registration.

 

[JMJ]

Maybe they'll clamp down on .name next... there are MANY that aren't personal names that have been regged.

As for the .US extension, it's no surprise.. I'm MORE surprised when a country allows open registration.

.name is giving away free trials to try to promote regs. I think they are more concerned with the bottom line then whether or not its a persons name.

 

[-db-]

By the way Mole, I forgot to thank you for posting this.

I hadn't received the email yet, so this was a helpful sneak peek.

Thank you.

 

[primacomputer]

No, there is always a way to work around silly restrictions. All that say is that if your a .us reseller you aren't allowed to offer private registrations.

I've been providing a nominee/proxy domain holding service since 98 which provides all the features of “private registration” and a whole lot more. There are several levels of this service, all of which allow me to offer the service for .us registrations.

I could make some “improvements” to the wording in the .us LD requirements document to close some of the loopholes. Even if you throw in stuff about beneficial owners, trusts, and intent, there are still ways to accomplish the same thing.

And if I can work it out then thousands of others can, and will when there is a demand.

 

[-db-]

I've been providing a nominee/proxy domain holding service since 98 which provides all the features of “private registration” and a whole lot more. There are several levels of this service, all of which allow me to offer the service for .us registrations.

PC, drop me a line sometime with more information about your program. I might need it one of these days.

 

[QBert]

So this means that they will be cracking down on people who are outside the US regestering .us domains?

Thanks

QBert

 

[Rasbelin]

Won't stop me as a Finn to register US ccTLD domains. :p Just going to use my virtual US presence for the WHOIS data and voilá (US postal address, phone and fax numbers). Problem solved.

I suspect the upcoming .EU will be full of crankiness. Already, they are saying that you can only register 1 year in advance.

And the initial public registration period will be only open to EU based parties (individuals, companies, organisations). Can't remember if that requirement will remain. Would expect so, based on what I've read. Should dig up info on it.

 

[Dave_Z]

So this means that they will be cracking down on people who are outside the US regestering .us domains?

Heck, no! Neustar has better things to do than send agents to neutralize
.US domain owners who live outside the US territories...except maybe those
in the Middle East. :D

Most likely they'll clamp down on registrars who stubbornly insist on selling
their privacy services to new and current domain owners.

What I'm wondering is if the registrars will refund anyone who recently bought
their respective privacy services, especially those who "supposedly" weren't
notified of this beforehand. Fat chance any registrar will use that excuse.

 

[mole]

What I'm wondering is if the registrars will refund anyone who recently bought their respective privacy services

You wish

 

[Shannara]

.name is giving away free trials to try to promote regs. I think they are more concerned with the bottom line then whether or not its a persons name.

I am really hoping they will clamp down on .name ownerships in the next 2 years I already have mine "shannara.name", and the good thing is, it is my real life last name :D

 

[1rrr1]

i hope that they don't....

 

[mole]

I am really hoping they will clamp down on .name ownerships in the next 2 years

If they do, the .NAME registrar will have no more business

 

[dgridley]

I agree there.. a relaxing of the personal name requirement might be good (not to get OT on the .us convo) but at least make the .name fit in some way.. I own .names like organdonors, corporateidentity, newidentity, and fakeid, for example.

If they do, the .NAME registrar will have no more business

 

[-db-]

What I'm wondering is if the registrars will refund anyone who recently bought
their respective privacy services, especially those who "supposedly" weren't
notified of this beforehand. Fat chance any registrar will use that excuse.

Hello Dave.

Well, if I'm understanding this correctly, that's not necessary. Current (including very recent) subscribers to privacy services will still be protected and get the full benefit of the service until next year/2006, or whenever the service is set to expire. So even if you have purchased privacy protection very recently, it should still be fine.

Only - from this day forward - does this effect .US domains, and only for new privacy protection purchases.

At least, that's the way it appears to me. If anybody gets any more info please post it.

 

[primacomputer]

Won't stop me as a Finn to register US ccTLD domains. :p Just going to use my virtual US presence for the WHOIS data and voilá (US postal address, phone and fax numbers). Problem solved.

It may not stop you from registering one, but that doesn't mean you'll keep it. Unless you are a US resident you don't meet the requirements. It'd be a real shame to put a lot of time, effort and money into a name only to have it deleted three years from now if they ask you to verify your SSN.

According to the rules it doesn't matter where you're mailing address is. You can be an American living at the north pole and you still qualify for registering a .us. I don't know if they insist on a US mailing address, but they shouldn't. There are plenty of American citizens around the world who have never set foot in America, let alone have a residence there.

 

[-db-]

It may not stop you from registering one, but that doesn't mean you'll keep it.

Exactly.

Plus, it's not a real good idea to go around advertising the fact that you intend on breaking the rules, on a public message board. It might hurt you, it might not. But it sure won't help you.