[ga] Sept 19 Update on "Stop Verisign DNS Abuse" Petition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Due to the overwhelming public support for the "Stop Verisign DNS
Abuse" petition, it knocked the PetitionOnline.com system for a loop!
Signatures weren't being added for many hours today, and only the first
178 were visible.
However, due to our supporters, it's back online at mirrors around the
world.
WHOIS.SC managed to import the first 10,000 signatures and duplicate
the PetitionOnline system on their own servers!
Go to: http://www.whois.sc/verisign-dns/
to add yourself online.
We also recommend:
1) Printing out the petition text and FAX it to ICANN, at:
1.310.823.8649 (some folks don't think our supporters are "real" --
send them a fax, to let them know you are real).
2) E-mailing a copy of it to: icann@xxxxxxxxx, twomey@xxxxxxxxx and
halloran@xxxxxxxxxx
3) Supporting the ICANN Accountability Act of 2003 by contacting your
government representatives using the links on that site. Visit:
http://www.stopwls.com/legislation.html
The mirrors can be found at the following sites: (site may load slowly,
due to huge support)
1. WHOIS.SC -- PRIMARY SYSTEM (can add your comments online!) --
http://www.whois.sc/verisign-dns/
2. LOFFS.com -- http://www.loffs.com/petition/ (will always have the
latest mirror list)
3. Outboxes.com -- http://www.outboxes.com/petition/
4. TheRock.net -- http://www.therock.net/petition/
5. MMcomputers.com -- http://www.mmcomputers.com/petition/
6. IdealHosting.com -- http://www.idealhosting.com/petition/
7. LewR.com -- http://www.lewr.com/petition/
Please email me at George (at) LOFFS.com to add yourself as a mirror.
We've also sent a HARD-COPY of the first 10,000 signatures (300 pages!)
to ICANN via FedEx, along with a cover letter (below). Watch its
progress at:
http://www.fedex.com/cgi-bin/tracking?tracknumbers=792331927796&action=track&language=english&cntry_code=ca
We've asked that ICANN post YOUR input to:
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/
along with their TIMELY response.
Sincerely,
George Kirikos
http://www.kirikos.com/
---- cover letter below ----
34 Burnfield Avenue
Toronto, Canada
M6G 1Y5
Tel: (416) 588-0269
email: George@xxxxxxxxxxx
web: http://www.Kirikos.com/
September 19, 2003
BY COURIER AND E-MAIL
Attention: Dr. Paul Twomey and Mr. Daniel E. Halloran
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
Marina del Rey, CA 92092 USA
Tel: 310-823-9358
Dear Gentlemen,
On behalf of internet users affected by Verisign's sudden, unilateral
and non-consensus based introduction of its "Sitefinder" system, I
would like to formally submit the Stop Verisign DNS Abuse Petition
which has appeared at the 3rd-party and independently operated URL:
http://www.petitiononline.com/icanndns/
(now mirrored at: http://www.whois.sc/verisign-dns/ and
http://www.loffs.com/petition/)
since 4 pm Eastern time on September 16, 2003. It has already gathered
more than 10,000 signatures from a broad cross-section of internet
users world-wide, including large corporations, small business,
hospitals, individuals, registrars, and internet service providers.
It is well within ICANN's mandate to immediately stop this new
detrimental Sitefinder system, and ICANN should take all necessary
measures, including but not limited to using its emergency powers under
its contracts, to force Verisign to comply. The exact text of the
petition follows, as do the signatures of the first 10,500 individuals
and groups that support it (by the time you receive this, the number of
signatures should be even higher).
Please have your Webmaster add this document to the "Correspondences"
section of the ICANN.org website, for public review, along with your
timely response.
Sincerely,
George Kirikos
Enclosures: Petition + First 10,500 Signatures
Stop Verisign DNS Abuse
To: ICANN
We internet users, who either own domain names or have an interest in
the domain name system, wish to object to the Verisign Sitefinder
system. We believe that the system:
1. breaks technical standards, by rewriting the expected error codes to
instead point to Verisign's pay-per-click web directory, and threatens
the security and stability of the Internet;
2. breaks technical standards affecting email services, and other
internet systems;
3. is anti-competitive, providing Verisign with 20 million eyeballs per
day for "free", while not paying for the domains they are resolving.
All other market participants pay at least $6 per domain per year
(wholesale);
4. violates trademark rights of domain holders, by typosquatting on
their .com and .net domains; and
5. violates the authoritative nature of DNS, turning it instead into a
"best guess" system filled with uncertainty, thereby destroying the
coherence of the DNS for Verisign's own short-term profit.
We hereby demand that ICANN immediately:
a) insist that Verisign cease giving incorrect answers to any query in
.com and .net, and should instead follow the IETF standards;
b) if Verisign refuses, should redelegate the .com and .net zones to
registries that are more willing to follow the DNS standards;
c) for greater certainty for all gTLD registries, pass a resolution
stating that "gTLD Registry operators WILL return NXDOMAIN for ALL DNS
queries for which there is not a REGISTERED domain name"; and
d) that Verisign be reprimanded for their monopolistic abuse of the DNS
system, and return all audited gross revenues from their Sitefinder
system to stakeholders, via a payment to the Generic Names Supporting
Organization (GNSO) of ICANN in the name of the Non-Commercial
constituency
[Supporting documentation can be found at the sites below]
http://www.merit.edu/mail.archives/nanog/
http://www.opensrs.org/archives/discuss-list/0309/date.html
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/16/0034210
http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/registrars/
http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/ga/
http://log.does-not-exist.org/
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/lynn-message-to-iab-06jan03.htm
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/iab-message-to-lynn-25jan03.htm
http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/ga/msg00336.html
Sincerely,
The Undersigned