Internet users who knowingly submit incorrect contact information when registering Web addresses could face up to five years in jail under legislation introduced in the House of Representatives this week.
Source [bizreport.com]
If by some miracle it did get signed into law... I think it would be found unconstitutional.
The notice forwarded - changed one character of the orginal domain and informed me that this domain had expired and someone else wishes to register it and I needed to act now to retain ownership.
Knowing that this was not my domain I went to whois @ Register.com and found that my company's info was indeed listed as the current owner (which we are not).
In addition, a follow up notice (snail mail) confirmed this as well. Also notice that Verisign logo was on the notice - although not their normal letterhead.
Has anyone else received such notice - e-mails or otherwise?
Thats where the spammers HIDE ...you want to do LEGIT business then you have no qualms about being honest in WHO you are, WHERE you are, and your CONTACT info ..it SHOULD be legislated ..
The WORST spam is from the LARGE corporations IMO..
The web isnt the blackmarket..you shouldnt be able to "hide" and do business covertly...
You CANT start a REAL B&M business without giving your correct info..thios is no different..
Off to a less agitating discussion...
THE main reason I think most webmasters do this is to thwart the punks who go around turning in everybody who beats them in the serps in as SPAMMERS. Fact is, by having multiple domains you can acheive an advantage.....what kind of businessman would pass that up?
Three ways to dramatically multiply the amount of postal & email junk you recieve:
1. Register a domain name with your real contact info in Whois. (either the registrar will sell their database ala NetSol, or spammers will auto-query it for your info)
2. Register for a business license with your US State gov't. (I assume it's either public record, or the state dep't of revenue is selling THEIR db.)
3. Put up a website with your real contact info on it. (love those spam spiders...)
So far it's mostly credit card companies hitting me up at the business license contact address. (LOL... I own the only barconference.com promotional pen in existence, because the promo pen company sent me a sample!)
