On Thu, Dec 09, 2004 at 04:59:33PM +0000, Alex Bligh wrote:
They clearly don't "already have" this information, or they wouldn't be a) offering to pay people for it b) continue to be trying to obtain it by data mining.
Sure, some of "them" quite clearly don't. And so they're buying it from those who do, or acquiring it themselves. But lots of "them" have it, and have means to acquire updates to it when it suits them. This can't be surprising to anybody, given the amount of money being thrown around, the technical sophistication that's been displayed, and the usual assortment of security issues.
Your argument [...]
It's not an argument. I'm just reporting the news. Well, okay, I suppose I'm also arguing that there's no point in maintaining the pretense that registrars are keeping it all tucked away safe from [automated] prying eyes because it's obvious to everyone that *if* that was ever true, it stopped being true a long time ago. It's done. It's over. It's history. Any debate about how it _should_ have been kept tucked safe away has been rendered moot, and while it might still hold some philosophical interest, its practical value is nil.
Note also that responsible registries do provide query access (automable where necessary) to registration data in a variety of different ways; not all make it "as hard as possible" for others to access it.
<shrug> I think it's time to abandon the charade and simply publish all of it -- one static web page per domain, refreshed when the backing info changes. That would at least level the playing field, and pull the rug out from under those who are selling it. ---Rsk