[olug] VeriSign
Sean Kelly
smkelly at zombie.org
Wed Sep 17 06:07:41 UTC 2003
I apologize for the non-Linux/BSD nature of this e-mail, but I think it is
an issue worth semi-spamming about.
For those of you who haven't noticed or heard about it yet, VeriSign (the
company that controls .COM and .NET) has added wildcard A records to
the top-level domains they control. As a result, any unregistered .com or
.net domain you attempt to go to will now take you to their site.
For example, check out http://fwelkjfdslkdfwiodiodfsklsdfljkfs.net
$ host fwelkjfdslkdfwiodiodfsklsdfljkfs.net
fwelkjfdslkdfwiodiodfsklsdfljkfs.net has address 64.94.110.11
It also runs a SMTP server which doesn't even look at the content of the
commands being sent to it:
220 snubby3-wceast Snubby Mail Rejector Daemon v1.3 ready
> HELLO THERE
250 OK
> HOW ARE YOU?
250 OK
> OK?
550 User domain does not exist.
> GOODBYE
250 OK
> HELLO?
221 snubby3-wceast Snubby Mail Rejector Daemon v1.3 closing transmission channel
As you can imagine, this breaks many Internet applications when handling
the case of a typo. It also breaks spam checking software which checks to
ensure a domain exists. It also puts VeriSign in a position to have
advertising on all .com and .net typos.
If you find this as disgusting as I do, I highly suggest you do the
following:
Read this Slashdot article about it:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/16/0034210
E-mail ICANN and let them know that you are not pleased with VeriSign's
business practices:
comments at icann.org
"Sign" this petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/badnsi/petition.html
If you are really proactive and outgoing, call and complain to ICANN and
the Department of Commerce.
Thanks.
--
Sean Kelly | PGP KeyID: D2E5E296
smkelly at zombie.org | http://www.zombie.org
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