North American Network Operators Group
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Re: [policy] When Tech Meets Policy...

  • From: Douglas Otis
  • Date: Wed Aug 15 20:34:16 2007


On Aug 15, 2007, at 2:55 PM, Barry Shein wrote:

Then my next question is, what reasons are there where it'd be wise/useful/non-criminal to do it on a large scale?

It's a relatively passive activity when used for ad pages, no one forces anyone to look at them. I'm not sure what the problem is with that except it seems to offend some people's sensibilities.

If the behavior is used to hide illegal activity such as spamming (e.g., botnet use) then that should be more of a reputation issue.

This 'almost' hits the nail on the head. While domain tasting may not intend to obfuscate various nefarious activities related to domain names, it does. Domain assessments are impeded by a vast amount of domain name chaff caused by domain tasting. Domain tasting represents a significant burden in both assessment costs and performance. An unnecessary expense, an unnecessary overhead, and an unnecessary risk.

As IPv6 is introduced, reliance upon IPv4 address assessment must transition to greater reliance on domain name assessment. There are too many IPv6 addresses and too many translators and proxies. Attempting to retain an open system makes domain assessment essential, and an open system seems like the "right thing."

-Doug

To quote Benjamin Franklin, "Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power."