OT: But, Important to all Internet users

[kelly]

Those Lawyers might be on the side of good for once.

Verisign sued over Site Finder

http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/0...t=1063985851000

[kelly]

http://theregister.co.uk/content/6/32852.html

[beacher]

Done!  Hope we're not just  

[themagpie]

I have signed the first petition but none of my 3 browseers (Safari, IE and Camino) will permit me to post my signature on the second one.  I'll try again later.

Margie

[Highmac]

9.30pm UK Sun... Just had another go at signing petition No2. Can get as far as 'approve signature'. Four times got . (GaryS.. .note mine is also No 179). Could something - or someone - be blocking it deliberately? Who do we alert to the problem?

[kps]

VeriSign no longer has my domain name...I transfered it to GoDaddy as of today.

Say bye, bye... VS.

I hope the pressure exhorted with these actions will change their ways...but I doubt it. Maybe if everyone "speaks" with their dollars they'll see the light.

They were in trouble before for unscrupulous business tactics.

[Diana]

QUOTE

kps said: VeriSign no longer has my domain name...

Good for you kps.. I was about to write to you and suggest that you make this transition as soon as possible. One of the unscrupulous things that Verisign has been known to do is hold domains hostage as they near their expiration. In the beginning it was a week, then 3 weeks, then it became 60 days. I think they took a lot of heat for that one too, so lately I think they've relented just a little. But, one can never be too early ditching Verisign.. especially since registrars like GoDaddy will honor the time remaining.

Thanks again to everyone who has taken an interest in this and signed the petitions. I'm sorry the one is giving people so much trouble, (I too was 179 now that I think about it) so don't waste any time attempting the second one more than once.

see ya,

[Bernie]

"
Your signature on the petition is already complete, and there is no need
to reply to this message.

Your signature number for this petition is 560.

At PetitionOnline.com, we host the petition you've signed, but we didn't
create it. If you would like to comment on the petition, you can contact
the author of the petition by email, at:
I tried but when trying the " second" I couldn't get in?

[Paddy]

I've emailed the guy who created the petition (referencing this thread) - we'll see if he can figure out what's wrong. I tried Netscape & Safari - no dice.

[Paddy]

Faster than a speeding bullet - I got this reply from George Kirikos:

Hi,

We're not sure what happened -- could be we were Slashdotted?. But, we're
now back, at another server. Folks should now link only to:

http://www.whois.sc/verisign-dns/

Our press release is below, which we also sent to:

http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archiv...a/msg00399.html

and the letter to ICANN formally presenting the first 10,000 signatures
at:

http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archiv...a/msg00400.html

Sincerely,

George Kirikos
416-588-0269
www.kirikos.com

P.S. Feel free to forward the info to others seeking the 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@icann.org, twomey@icann.org and
halloran@icann.org.

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?trac...h&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@Kirikos.com
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;

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-li.../0309/date.html
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/16/0034210
http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archiv...ves/registrars/
http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/ga/
http://log.does-not-exist.org/
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/lynn-m...iab-06jan03.htm
http://www.icann.org/correspondence/iab-me...ynn-25jan03.htm
http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archiv...a/msg00336.html

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

[Diana]

Very cool Paddy..

I've signed the petition at the new link (#11661) and was amazed at the total response so far. I'll fix the link in my post so that new readers won't have to read the whole thread to find the fix to the old errors.

I also checked the first petition..the one that isn't quite so well signed.. and noticed TONS of TS users names. I love it.  

thanks so much to everyone for your efforts, and two thanks to Paddy for keeping this on track.

see ya,

[Bill]

I thought the second link worked for me before. Once I hit approved, I went off somewhere else. Wasn't on the list.
Am now! <gr>

[Dreambird]

Got both now...  

[kps]

Diana, thanks for your imput. I was going to wait till I was close to the renewal date to do the transfer, but something in my gut told me to do it straight away. We'll see how long it'll take and it better not be the 90 days you mentioned.

Paddy, many thanks for your effort, I was now able to sign both.

[dolphin]

Diana,
I signed both...603 on first and 12589 on second. Happy to help on anything like this that threatens our freedoms and our privacy.  

Makes me angry too...