VeriSign Withdraws Domain-Suspension Proposal 48
GeorgeK writes "To update Wednesday's Slashdot article, VeriSign, the .com/net domain name registry, has withdrawn their controversial proposal which would have allowed them to suspend domains without a court order and without due process. VeriSign did not give a reason for the withdrawal. Slashdot 1, VeriSign 0."
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Reason? We just wanted to see how much we could get away with because we are slimy worms.
Or perhaps they ran it up the flagpole to see how various parties would react.
Could well be an attorney or Attorney General or Powerful Industry Lobby Group or very well placed janitor convinced they they would be wise to bin the idea.
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Reason? We just wanted to see how much we could get away with because we are slimy worms.
Could well be an attorney or Attorney General or Powerful Industry Lobby Group or very well placed janitor convinced they they would be wise to bin the idea.
Hardly. The Attorneys General and Powerful Industry Lobbies would love a ruling that lets them heroically take down the ne'er-do-wells of the Internet without all those messy judges and their "due process" nonsense screwing things up. After all, we all know cyberterrorists don't have rights, and they'd promise never to misuse the process. They even pinky-swore.
Seriously, I don't know that they were intentionally being slimy worms, or if they were just trying to do something to "help fight teh ebil wikile
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I doubt they're INTENTIONALLY being slimy worms, they just ARE slimy worms so that's what they'll be.
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Slashdot 1 (Score:3, Insightful)
How arrogant! Do you really think Slashdot had anything to do with the withdrawal ?
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The typically provide links to discussions here.
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How arrogant! Do you really think Slashdot had anything to do with the withdrawal ?
Quiet, you. Or they won't show you your data that they hold with their intellectual property trade secrets!
Slashdot 10000! (Score:5, Funny)
Then you woke me up. Jerk.
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There are hundreds of people camped out in Wall St right now who aren't achieving anything. What makes you think posting on a message board gets any worse results than regular political participation?
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The self-importance of some people....
Doesn't matter. (Score:1)
Those holding the pen write history.
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Those holding the pen write history.
Not quite. The last person to edit Wikipedia wrote history.
Think about that difference, Winston Smith.
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Touché.
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How arrogant! Do you really think Slashdot had anything to do with the withdrawal ?
Well, if you are a employee of Verisign, could you tell us why then ? If you're not, tell us anyway. We like to read fiction. :)
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Hard to say. Slashdot has a readership in excess of 100,000 (which puts it on-par with that of most major newspapers) and is read primarily by people in IT (whereas most major newspapers have a diverse readership). Whilst it is not possible to know in any given case how big of a role Slashdot has played, mainstream newspapers like The Guardian (who broke the Murdoch scandal and were a major player in the WikiLeaks saga) have unquestionably had influence on major events.
It is therefore reasonable to say that
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...and is read primarily by people in IT (whereas most major newspapers have a diverse readership)...
... it has a level of focus that mainstream media can't.
That's not a good thing, it's a bad thing. Mainstream publicity is what matters. People don't care about what some unknown niche or specific target group says, they care about what the most popular and mainstream opinion is.
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Slashdot has a readership in excess of 100,000 (which puts it on-par with that of most major newspapers)
I'm not sure what your definition of a major newspaper is, but here in Melbourne (with a population of < 4 million) the two biggest newspapers have a mon-fri readership of 1,338,000 [mediaworksasia.com] and 685,000 [adcentre.com.au] respectively.
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I'd consider The Guardian to be a major newspaper, but it's paper readership is only 80,000. I don't recall the exact figures, but I remember seeing that US national newspaper figures were in the same ballpark. As for your examples, you've got to remember that Australia produced Rolf Harris, Clive James and Steve Irwin. Any nation that can do that is bound to be a little bit... different.
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While public opposition likely played a significant role in this, I am, if anything, saddened by how little attention this received even on Slashdot. There was a time when such a proposal would have met with significant resistance, as opponents of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 might remember. Those days are apparently long gone, with most people either unaware of or unmoved by attempts to regulate the Internet.
That's the way it works... (Score:5, Insightful)
Make outrageous proposal again... some people howl, others think "meh", withdraw proposal.
Make outrageous proposal again... a few people howl, a few people think "sounds reasonable", most think "meh", withdraw proposal.
Make outrageous proposal again... a few people think "sounds reasonable", most think "meh", implement proposal.
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Make outrageous proposal... when everyone howls, withdraw proposal.
Make outrageous proposal again... some people howl, others think "meh", withdraw proposal.
Make outrageous proposal again... a few people howl, a few people think "sounds reasonable", most think "meh", withdraw proposal.
Make outrageous proposal again... a few people think "sounds reasonable", most think "meh", implement proposal.
Or they find some way to sugar-coat it, bury it in the fine print of some other proposal or wait for just the right political climate ...
Invasion! Zygorthian Death Shuttles landing in Grover's Mill! Death Rays fired at town water tower and a few fence posts! President declares emergency! VeriSign, in major patriotic thrust declares they must have the ability to suspend domains without a court order and without due process to save they day!
It's all in the timing.
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Re:That's the way it works... (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/frogboil.asp [snopes.com]
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If you replace boiling water with radiated heat, I agree. People won't hold their hand over a radiator until it burns, but they'll "sunbathe" for the same effect, just more slowly. Silly.
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Credit where credit is due (Score:3, Funny)
I don't think Slashdot can claim any credit for Verisign's change of heart. I mean, after all, I didn't even post a comment on that article.
Re:Credit where credit is due (Score:4, Insightful)
It was my +insightful moderation on a particularly good point that did the trick. Verisign, for your next attempt please note that I accept Paypal and Google Checkout.
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They didn't have a change of heart, just publicly admitted procedure.
What stops them from actually doing it? (Score:3)
They can say they aren't going to do it, but in the end somebody at Verisign can make a unilateral split second decision to shut down any domain they want. Who's to stop them?
I would suggest it be part of your contract that they won't do this to your domain without a court order and notifying you first. Otherwise find a different registrar.
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Verisign controls .com and .net. Frankly, no registrar can do anything to prevent Verisign shutting down your domain.
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A Moose Bit My Sister (Score:2)
We at Verisign apologize for the silly proposal we had proposed. Those twits responsible have been sacked.
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Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti.