NTIA and the Right to Privacy
Posted by Moonage on 30 Mar 2005 | Tagged as: National Politics
I got this email from godaddy.com today:
Dear Valued Go Daddy Customer,
Today I have the unfortunate responsibility of informing you that there has been a decision made by bureaucrats of a Federal agency that takes away your right to privacy as guaranteed by the United States Constitution.
This decision was unilaterally made by the National Telecommunications and Information Association ("NTIA") www.ntia.doc.gov without hearings that would determine the impact on those affected, and delivered without notice in short, the NTIA decision was made without due process of any kind. This is exactly how our government is not supposed to work.
The effect of this decision is to disallow new private domain name registrations on .US domain names. In addition, if you already own a private .US domain name registration, you will be forced to forfeit your privacy no later than January 26, 2006. By that time, you will need to choose between either making your personal information available to anyone who wants to see it, or giving up your right to that domain name.
I personally find it ironic that our right to .US privacy was stripped away, without due process, by a federal government agency an agency that should be looking out for our individual rights. For the NTIA to choose the .US extension is the ultimate slap in your face. .US is the only domain name that is specifically intended for Americans (and also those who have a physical presence in our great country). So think about this for a moment. These bureaucrats stripped away the privacy that you’re entitled to as an American, on the only domain name that says that you are an American. I am outraged by this you should be also.
If, like me, you are outraged at the NTIA’s decision to strip away our constitutional right to privacy, www.TheDangerOfNoPrivacy.com will provide you with a petition to sign. (Only your name will be published, your address and email information will be kept private.) This Web site also provides a very easy way for you to send either a fax or an email, expressing your outrage, to your Congressperson and Senators. This is all provided at no cost to you. All that is required is for you to take the time to visit www.TheDangerOfNoPrivacy.com sign the petition, and send the fax or email to your legislators.
On my personal Blog, www.BobParsons.com there are a number of articles where you can learn more about the NTIA’s unfortunate decision and what you can do to help get it reversed.
I also will be talking about our right to privacy on Radio Go Daddy, our weekly radio show that debuts today, March 30, at 7 PM PST. To find out how to listen in, please visit the Web site dedicated to the show, www.RadioGoDaddy.com.
You can be sure that I, and everyone at GoDaddy.com, will do everything in our power to get the NTIA decision reversed. However, we need your help. Please visit www.TheDangerOfNoPrivacy.com to sign the petition and express your feelings to your Congressperson and Senators.
Sincerely,
Bob Parsons
President and Founder
GoDaddy.com
Needless to say, I was taken aback by the sheer force of the letter. So, I went to bobparsons.com to find his explanation of why privacy of registration is such a big deal for something as public as a webpage. And, I got more than I asked for. I can’t even begin to try to summarize his post, so, just go there and read it if you’re interested. I’m still ambivalent about this as I don’t know all the details. I wouldn’t have my name on my personal homepage if I was afraid of it being public, so I can’t see that I really have a dog in this fight. I also prefer that I be able to access WHOIS and find out who’s harassing, stalking, or otherwise annoying me. IMO, the upside of this policy is that it will discourage scams on the .us extensions. When I then see a .us extension, I’ll feel a little safer knowing that they are willing to disclose real information about their business or self, and, that if they do scam or attempt to scam me, they are within the jurisdiction of my good friend, a US Attorney. Bob has covered all of the downsides quite extensively, I’ll just let that be the rebuttal.
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