[conspire] (forw) I might need to change registrars?

[Rev Anon]

I've never had trouble and always good service from easydns.com. they're 
in Ontario, Canada.  Why not talk to them?

On 2/2/23 14:22, Rick Moen wrote:
> ----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----
>
> Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2023 14:20:19 -0800
> From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
> To: balug-admin at lists.balug.org
> Subject: I might need to change registrars?
> Organization: If you lived here, you'd be $HOME already.
>
> I used to have my two domains, linuxmafia.com and unixmercenary.net,
> registered through an individual in Texas, found via my wife Deirdre,
> who was a Tucows OpenSRS reseller.  Years down the line, he wound down
> that operation:  I think I was among the final customers, probably kept
> because I wasn't "high maintenance" unlike many domain owners.
>
> Where I moved was to small, clueful registrar IWantMyName.com of
> Wellington, NZ.  And all was good for a long time.  There was one brief
> bobble when GDPR kicked in:  Suddenly and without explanation, let alone
> my request, all my domain contacts toggled to "private registration".  I
> opened a IWantMyName.com support ticket, like "not what I want, please
> revert."
>
> Their clued and cheerful tech quickly figured out what happened:
> IWantMyName.com is a reseller of domain services provided by very large,
> German registrar 1API Gmbh (with presumably IWantMyName.com doing its
> work via 1API's, er, API.  And, like many large registrars, 1API Gmbh
> had reacted to the rollout of GDPR by doing a "Fine, we'll just set
> everyone for maximum privacy as a new default, so we cannot be sued for
> privacy violation."
>
> IWantMyName.com staff intervened with the larger company, and it got
> fixed.  More years passed.  In August 2019, the unwelcome news arrived
> that the Wellington, NZ shop was now a wholly owned subsidiary of
> CentralNic Group PLC of London.[1]  Drat.  You go to the effort of
> researching a small clueful business, run by people you have confidence
> in, and they get bought out by some distant idiots.  More years pass.
>
> A few days ago, I check, and linuxmafia.com and unixmercenary.net are
> _again_ set to "private registration".  Grr.  I do due-diligence by
> visiting the IWantMyName.com customer WebUI:  For each domain, there is
> a toggle to _enable_ (but not one to disable) "private registration".
> Fine, I've tried to fix it myself, and no.  Will require registrar
> action.
>
> New support ticket.  I thank them for prior help, detail 1API Gmbh
> having pushed out this unrequested change once _before_, suggest this
> might have been a similar corporate spasm, give the context that I'm
> one of those rare people who insist on _public_ WHOIS, and that I've
> had these domains for decades.
>
> Support guy sends back a one-liner saying:
>
>
> <---begin--->
>
> Shaswat, 2 Feb 2023, 00:23 UTC
>
> Hello there,
>
> Verisign domains do not show registrant details, regardless of privacy setting.
>
> This is registry policy over which we do not have any influence so there isn't much we can do from our end.
>
>
> Shaswat
>
> <---end--->
>
>
>
> I draft a response, saying "That's odd, I find nobody online discussing
> Verisign ever adopting such a policy, which is suspicious.  Nor can I
> find any declaration of such a policy.  Can you please point me to one?
> Also, when did this occur?  Please give me details so I know how to
> escalate my complaint at Verisign."  (Verisign is indeed the operator of
> the .com and .net TLDs, since its acquisition of NSI.)
>
> But, before sending, I smell a rat.  Wait, does Shaswat's statement
> actually check out?  If it's true, then _no_ .com or .net domains have
> public WHOIS, any more.  Logic!
>
> I check:
>
> o  apple.com
> o  verisign.net
>
> Both have public WHOIS.  I discard my pending draft response to Shaswat,
> and politely point out that his assertion is erroneous, citing the above
> two domains as counter-examples.  I reiterate my request, say that his
> first response is in no way acceptable, and advise checking with his
> team if he doesn't know how to proceed.  I also say he should use
> standard WHOIS client queried to verify what I said about apple.com and
> verisign.net -- and paste the contact results for his convenience.
>
> A few minutes later, Shaswat responds:
>
> <---begin--->
>
> Shaswat, 2 Feb 2023, 04:11 UTC
>
> I passed your email to our developers and I am getting the same response.
>
> Here is a third party source that displays registrant info :- +https://www.whois.com/
>
> Despite the privacy being turned off for the domains: linuxmafia.com and +unixmercenary.net, it says redacted.
>
> That's because whois pulls data from the registry database and verisign keeps it
> private.
>
>
>
> Shaswat
>
> <---end--->
>
>
>
> Notice the implication that his _entire_ notion of how to view WHOIS
> is to use an outsourced third-party _Web_ front-end to WHOIS.  I.e., I
> suspect he is completely unaware of /usr/bin/whois and /usr/bin/jwhois .
> One gets the picture of some underpaid technophone, who knows nothing
> about the registrar business and uses only a Web browser, never command
> lines.
>
> I reply back, reiterating that irrespective of what "our developers"
> say, that is obviously incorrect, and that he can see that for himself
> using any WHOIS tool including the third-party https://www.whois.com/
> CGI.  I also add that I'd advise him becoming fluent with /usr/bin/whois
> and /usr/bin/jwhois, as that is a necessary skill for his present job.
>
> That was about 14 hours ago.  I'm still waiting to hear... something.
>
>
> So, I get the picture that CentralNic Group PLC probably laid off
> all the competent support staff and moved IWantMyName.com support
> into its existing ultra-low-paid helpdesk staff operation who only
> copy-paste stock answers and are incompetent to do technical work.
>
> I'm going to give it a day, and maybe try to escalate to the CentralNic
> Group PLC / IWantMyName.com _sales_ staff, pointing out that they're
> about to lose a customer.
>
> My expection is:  They're going to lose a customer.  I suspect they've
> been Computer Associated.
> ( http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/lexicon.html#computer-associates )
>
>
> (1) Michael, I notice you have berleleylug.com (with public WHOIS) at
> registrar gandi.net .  Still happy with them?
>
> (2) Anyone here have a .net domain (with public WHOIS) at gandi.net
> or any other reputable registrar?
>
>
>
> [1] https://iwantmyname.com/about
> https://iwantmyname.com/blog/iwantmyname-becomes-part-of-centralnic-group-plc
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
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