North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical Re: Is the .to (Tonga) domain completely rogue and should be removed?
I have two proposals: 1) Clearly, .COM is used for criminal and malicious activities. I propose that we remove it due to abuse. 2) Barry Shein serves no useful purpose and should also be removed. Karl > >We've been having increasing problems with one or more porn sites in >the .to domain promoting itself by massive spamming of AOL customers >using one of our domains in their From: header thus causing both >complaints to us and thousands of bounces from AOL due to bad AOL >addresses in their spam lists. > >Looking at the .to domain I can't help but notice it's heavily laden >with what appear to be porn sites (sexonline.to, come.to, >xxxhardcore.to, etc.) > >1. Performing traceroutes and other analyses seems to indicate that >this domain is NOT being used for communication with entities >legitimately located (legally, not only geographically) within the >sovereignty of the Kingdom of Tonga, as intended. > >2. Clearly criminal and malicious activites are arising from sites to >which Tonga has provided comfort and sanctuary. > >3. Therefore, I call for a process whereby it can be determined as to >whether or not it is appropriate to decommission the Tongan domain due >to negligence, mismanagement, and having allowed it to become an >attractive resource for criminal activities. I do not believe the >Tongan domain serves any legitimate purpose as an internet resource. > >In support of this assertion I want to show you an SMTP conversation >with what claims to be the Consulate of the Government of Tonga in San >Francisco (This San Francisco office is listed as an official Tongan >contact point for visas etc by the US State Dept): > >world% telnet sfconsulate.gov.to 25 >Trying 209.24.51.169... >Connected to sfconsulate.gov.to. >Escape character is '^]'. >220 colo.to SMTP ready, Who are you gonna pretend to be today? >VRFY postmaster >500 Bloody Amateur! Proper forging of mail requires recognizable SMTP commands! > >-------------------- > >Viewing the web page for the Tongan Consulate in the US >(http://sfconsulate.gov.to) reveals nothing but an ad for a software >company, this page ends with: > > Need a domain name? Contact the Kingdom of Tonga Internet domain name > registry. > >-------------------- > >Consequently, I assert there is no reason for this domain to exist and >it should be removed from the root name servers. > > >-- > -Barry Shein > >Software Tool & Die | [email protected] | http://www.world.com >Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: 617-739-0202 | Login: 617-739-WRLD >The World | Public Access Internet | Since 1989 *oo* >
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