[arin-discuss] The joy of SWIPping

[Paul Vixie]

> From: Jeremy Anthony Kinsey <jer at mia.net>
> To: arin-discuss at arin.net
> Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 08:44:07 -0500
> 
> I guess what I would really like to know is what is so secretive and  
> what is it exactly that these entities have to protect in terms of  
> privacy that motivates them to not want their address listed?

first and foremost, whois is a public database, and so any address listed
in it will get a lot of spam from a lot of sources.  listing something in
whois is tantamount to wearing a "kick me" sign on your backside.

second and just as compelling if not more so, are the large and growing
collection of horrid tools and bad ideas (spamcop being a prime example)
where the spam being sent to whois addresses is well intentioned but
absolutely worthless.

so we have a situation where the more a company cares about its online
reputation, and the more they've invested in their NOC and abuse desk, the
less likely they are to be able to afford to put a real address in whois,
since both bad people and good people will spam it to oblivion.

> I'd really prefer it if the SWIP address remained visible, as should  
> all domain addresses be IMO.   But I, like the vast majority end up  
> doing all we can to bend enough for a customer to get and or keep that  
> customer.  The alternative, I've suggested customers that do not want  
> to give out their name/address use a PO box.  Most companies have a PO  
> separate from their business/mailing address.

while i'm talking mostly about e-mail addresses here, the arguments extend
to phone numbers and postal addresses.  those of us who use small variations
in our postal contact information can tell who bought or scraped our address
and from where.  whois trust just does not scale.