[arin-discuss] The joy of SWIPping

[Jeremy Anthony Kinsey]

On May 13, 2008, at 9:00 AM, Paul Vixie wrote:

>> 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.
>


I understand your point, but the double edge sword here is, that the  
lack of the valid information is just as detrimental since many of us  
use it to track down just such issues as you have described.  It makes  
it easier for those of us that have actual human beings hunting down  
either spam and or network related issues.

We had our network hyjacked by a larger telecommunications company a  
few years back. Without that information, we never would have been  
able to get an actual human being to fix the routing screw up.

Regards,
Jeremy Anthony Kinsey
  e-mail: jer at mia.net
_____________________________________
Bella Mia, Inc.                                      www.mia.net
401 Host Drive                              www.dslone.com
Lake Geneva, WI. 53147         www.hostdrive.com
Phone: (262)248-6759       www.thednsplace.com
Fax: (262)248-6959            www.hostinglizard.com