Here we go with the InterNIC.
I've been a longstanding cheerleader for the NIC, but I have to put all of that aside on this one.
Today, without notice, the InterNIC turned "off" the domain name NASA.COM, a domain which had been registered now for over two years.
In the letter that follows, the InterNIC claims that the registration of NASA.COM violates the Space Act of 1958. The Space Act of 1958, which is found at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/amendact.html , states:
[summary of InterNIC's violations of its own policies snipped] [letter from InterNIC snipped] At first your letter dismayed me. It truly appeared that the InterNIC was violating its own policies (perhaps they still are) and that the space act of 1958 should not apply if your web site really had nothing to with NASA, space, etc. I went to your web site, however.
server 209.4.122.20 Default Server: ns1.host.net Address: 209.4.122.20
www.nasa.com Server: ns1.host.net Address: 209.4.122.20
Name: www.nasa.com Address: 209.4.122.102 What I found indeed had nothing to do with space exploration. What I found was an ad for some kind of porno/sex service, a comment about the domain being taken away from you, and then a link to host.net's main page. It appears that you have nothing to do with space exploration, or should I sufice to say nothing to do with anything. From my perspecitve, you are using the domain nasa.com in an effort to advertise to people who miss-enter the URL for NASA.gov, and with the current Mars Pathfinder mission, I'm sure thats quite a few. These being the facts, I think the space act of 1958 DOES apply to you. However, I still feel the InterNIC should have given you thirty days to dispute your case. I imagine if you wish to make a legal case out of it that you could get a temporary restraining order again the InterNIC; but in the long run you will loose the case, because you fail to have one. [Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, and I am not representing AIS in this post; these are just my personal opinions on the issue.] /ajd/ -- _/_/ _/ _/_/_/_/ Andrew J. Doane _/ _/ _/ _/ Director, Network Operations _/_/_/_/ _/ _/_/_/_/ American Information Systems, Inc. _/ _/ _/ _/ Email: adoane@ais.net, http://www.ais.net _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ (312) 255-8500 Voice, (312) 255-8501 Fax For my PGP public key, email me with the subject "pgp request"