At 7/22/04 10:08 AM, Paul Vixie wrote:
the primary beneficiaries of this new functionality are spammers and other malfeasants
I think you're suggesting that such people will register domain names and use them right away (which may be true), and that the lack of a delay enables them to do things they couldn't otherwise do (which isn't). Plenty of spammers register lots of .com domain names and let them sit for a little while before using them; if you're a committed spammer, it's obviously trivial to just get three days ahead of the game. The policy change doesn't allow evildoers to do anything they couldn't already do with a tiny amount of forethought (or by registering a .biz, .org, .info or .us domain, for that matter). But the new policy does allow normal people to do something they couldn't otherwise do: have a working .com/.net Web site and e-mail in a few minutes. That's good for legitimate domain owner happiness. By far the number one question customers ask my (hosting) company when they sign up is "When will it start working?". It's almost embarrassing to tell these poor people "ahem... it probably won't work for a day or so, and it's a bit random -- your friends might find it works before you do, so please don't complain if that happens", etc. It's certainly true that a day's wait isn't the end of the world, but these people are anxious, and it is a source of confusion, bother and worry for them. I welcome the change. -- Robert L Mathews, Tiger Technologies http://www.tigertech.net/ "There are many who dare not kill themselves for fear of what the neighbours might say." -- Cyril Connolly