The Government must play a greater role in punishing those who conceal their identities online, particularly when they do so in furtherance of a serious federal criminal offense or in violation of a federally protected intellectual property right," [Lamar] Smith said at a hearing on the topic today.
Defending the rights of domain owners to submit false or incomplete information to domain registrars, Marv Johnson, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, noted that the U.S. Constitution "recognizes that you have a right to anonymous communication."
[ecommercetimes.com...]
All I can say, is best of luck. Do you think they'll be able to extradite all the owners of .com domains on foreign soil?
If a person wants to be anonymous to the whois, that can be arranged as long as the registrar has the correct contact information in their files. Most registrars do this. Sub-registrars are required also to keep correct records and this is where a big part of the problem is.
It is for this reason that I have legally changed my name to Host Master.
He he... :)
Seriously though, this is going to be a tad hard to enforce, isn't it?
Very easy to confiscate a domain.
I'm too lazy to check the legal language. But other reports made me think that the jail time wasn't just for the incorrect information. It would only come into play if that false information was used in context of some other criminal activity. Anyone got the real scoop on this?
It would only come into play if that false information was used in context of some other criminal activity.
Yes, at least that's the spin on it. We'll see what kind of language actually ends up in the bill - as I read it, that's not specifically part of the bill, just the "intent". That kind of thing gets me nervous because future judicial rulings may stick to the letter of the law and avoid issues of intent.
criminal activity
Like marketing pharmaceutical products in a way the FDA doesn't like, or violating a spam law?
I'm sure this crackdown could be sold as a way of catching terrorists and mobsters, but the real-world application could end up being far broader.
From an enforcement perspective I like the one venue fits all approach for injunctive relief. If the domains don't resolve it's hard to do business under a dot com, dot net, etc.
This is just the start. Look for more vigorous standards for registering domain names in the future.
Crime pays so this battle for control will never end.
