ICANN wants to expose your WHOIS data

Just received that letter from Namecheap:

Did you know that your privacy rights are currently under threat? ICANN is considering introducing a rule that would impact all netizens. If you care about your online privacy, this is a big deal.


Under new guidelines proposed by MarkMonitor and other organizations who represent the same industries that backed SOPA, domain holders with sites associated to "commercial activity" will no longer be able to protect their private information with WHOIS protection services. "Commercial activity" casts a wide net, which means a vast number of domain holders will be affected. Your privacy provider could be forced to publish your contact data in WHOIS or give it out to anyone who complains about your website, without due process. Why should a small business owner have to publicize her home address just to have a website?


We think your privacy should be protected, regardless of whether your website is personal or commercial, and your confidential info should not be revealed without due process. If you agree, please contact ICANN right away and demand your right to privacy and due process. Let them know you object to any release of info without a court order. There's no time to waste -- the close date for comments is July 7, 2015.


Visit our new site https://www.respectourprivacy.com/ and we'll guide you through the process of calling or emailing ICANN. Thanks!

Wow! There goes my privacy.

I haven't receive any such email from my domain registrar yet.

But it is not up to the registrar, this is ICANN doing.

So where do I signup for a petition against this?

I've got the same email too. I think it's just a matter of time now

Well, at worst you can always fake your whois info, right?

tmnut said:

Wow! There goes my privacy.

I haven't receive any such email from my domain registrar yet.

But it is not up to the registrar, this is ICANN doing.

So where do I signup for a petition against this?

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You can email/call ICANN from the link above.

Pete Friedman said:

Well, at worst you can always fake your whois info, right?

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There is a risk to lose the domain name if the WHOIS details are fake, especially on GoDaddy & Namecheap.
I bet there will be a migration to registrars who care less about the validity of your details.

lancis said:

There is a risk to lose the domain name if the WHOIS details are fake, especially on GoDaddy & Namecheap.
I bet there will be a migration to registrars who care less about the validity of your details.

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Like they will ask for ID card or any other gov. issued document for verification?

lancis said:

You can email/call ICANN from the link above.



There is a risk to lose the domain name if the WHOIS details are fake, especially on GoDaddy & Namecheap.
I bet there will be a migration to registrars who care less about the validity of your details.

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it was internet.bs last time i know.

I received this e-mail as well, looks like we have to move to anonymous registrars. So to be safe.

After seeing this email from namecheap, I'm planning to ask for refund on all the domain privacy that I have purchased.

If everyone ask for a refund on that one product, they will have a bit of revenue loss and they themselves will think about that.

educatedfool said:

After seeing this email from namecheap, I'm planning to ask for refund on all the domain privacy that I have purchased.

If everyone ask for a refund on that one product, they will have a bit of revenue loss and they themselves will think about that.

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Good luck, it's not namecheap doing this, but icann. Besides they've already provided the service you paid for, you might get a refund on the time you've prepaid for though.

I don't see how they are going to verify all the 1,000,000s of domains though? ar they going to send a verification code by post?

umerjutt00 said:

Like they will ask for ID card or any other gov. issued document for verification?

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Normally they will suspend your domain if they suspect that the details are fake, then ask for an ID card.

Aaric said:

it was internet.bs last time i know.

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I'm not that sure internet.bs is the right option nowadays. People complain about suspended domains and requests for ID verification all over the Internet.

I'm thinking to find some registrar that operates under European laws, where privacy is slightly more sacred than in the US.

Its amazing how with so much domestic abuse cases in the media, they will make a policy that could result in people getting stalked and killed.

I guess the domains WHOIS protection will be replaced with "Agencies", they will register domain for you and use their details.
It's interesting what will be the deal with the anonymous bitcoins domains.

You could create an anonymous company and register it under that, and it will take a court order to reveal the site owner.

No Comment said:

I guess the domains WHOIS protection will be replaced with "Agencies", they will register domain for you and use their details.
It's interesting what will be the deal with the anonymous bitcoins domains.

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STKMKTFTGRU said:

You could create an anonymous company and register it under that, and it will take a court order to reveal the site owner.

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These 2 ideasssssssssssssss

royserpa said:

These 2 ideasssssssssssssss

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The best way would be to order fake ID, and you can use it when ordering domains, even if they tell you to hold your ID and write something on paper than take a picture you will pass that also. I saw some HQ services you just need to provide HQ picture of yourself and they will ship you ID.

john smith of 23 main street in chicago looks forward to their mail.

I wonder how many billions of dollars will be lost from PBN ownership.

Namecheap cares deeply about your privacy if you pay $2 a year.

BlackDay for Internet
nothing to say