Originally posted by LaurenOE Why argue with you?
You said it was illegal and it isn't. Maybe where you live, but not here on my side of the Internet.
What you just posted is based in a DDoS on the WHOIS database, which a link in the Pentax forums (or Google crawing) is hardly qualified to do.
I don't put people's info out there, but if someone is starting to squat a Pentax domain, then it's fair game to use the legal methods to display who it is.
I have to agree.
To my knowledge, there is no domain privacy, when the data is open for all to see(public).
There are however domain legislation available through private registrars options, however, this would not apply to the public records.
Also, I think the legal information you cited in your previous post was specific to the WHOIS service itself rather than the registrant information per say. Though I can't see how anyone could ever enforce such restrictions through search engine queries. Which would be the equivalent of trying to stop people from posting search engine keywords(which anyone could do) in order to avoid seeing any private contact information.
Having said that, I was able to find the following information;
Quote: WHOIS has generated policy issues in the United States federal government. As noted above, WHOIS creates a
privacy issue which is also tied to
free speech and anonymous speech. However, WHOIS is an important tool for law enforcement officers investigating violations like
spam and
phishing to track down the holders of domain names. Law enforcement officers become frustrated when WHOIS records are filled with rubbish. As a result, law enforcement agencies have sought to make WHOIS records both open and verified:
[11] - The Federal Trade Commission has testified about how inaccurate WHOIS records thwart their investigations.[12]
- Congressional hearings have been conducted about the importance of WHOIS in 2006, 2002, and 2001.[13]
- The Fraudulent Online Identity Sanctions Act[14] "make it a violation of trademark and copyright law if a person knowingly provided, or caused to be provided, materially false contact information in making, maintaining, or renewing the registration of a domain name used in connection with the violation,"[15] where the latter "violation" refers to a prior violation of trademark or copyright law. The act does not make the submission of false WHOIS data illegal in itself, only if used to shield oneself from prosecution for crimes committed using that domain name.