# New ICANN rules will require email/phone verification for domain registration



## wdq (Jun 29, 2013)

I just saw this article on The Verge and thought I'd share it as it's relavent to this community.

Essentially it looks like it could be a whole lot harder to fake WHOIS information in the near future. When registering domains you'll need to have your phone number and email address verified within fifteen days of the registration. The registeras will also have to keep information like your payment information for a couple of years even if you cancel your domain. 

So be prepared to either turn on WHOIS protection, or use a phone number/email you don't mind being public. 

What are your thoughts?


inShare






> Domain registrars like GoDaddy will soon be held far more accountable for information on those who are signing up for web domains. In the future, users will need to verify both their email address and phone number within 15 days of applying for a domain. Without verification, registrars are instructed to suspend domain registrations. The new rule, which is one among many, comes as part of a new Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) approved earlier this week by the board of directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) — a nonprofit which oversees everything from top-level domains to IP addresses. The updated rules, which won't take effect until a later date when registrars sign the new agreement, should make the often-inaccurate WHOIS data on domain registrations a bit more reliable, while deterring those looking to set up websites for illicit purposes from doing so.
> 
> The new agreement doesn't just require verification of registrant data, however. Registrars will be required to maintain information on those who signed up for domains, including details like credit cards, for two years after users cancel their registrations. Other information like the IP address used to sign up for a registration needs to be recorded and given to ICANN at its request for up to 180 days. Registrants will also need to update their contact information within seven days of any change under the new rules, though it's unclear how that will be enforced — the old rules only provided for 15 days to update such details and data was often outdated.
> 
> Source: The Verge


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## serverian (Jun 29, 2013)

About time!


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## SeriesN (Jun 29, 2013)

I don't know for you but faking email and phone no. is easy. All it takes is a gmail and google voice and both of em are free 

Now, postal address verification would be something .


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## Francisco (Jun 29, 2013)

SeriesN said:


> I don't know for you but faking email and phone no. is easy. All it takes is a gmail and google voice and both of em are free
> 
> Now, postal address verification would be something .


I'm sure they'll be given a database listing the banks of phone numbers that are used by VOIP providers 

Francisco


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## Marc M. (Jun 29, 2013)

Not a really big deal... really... :huh:


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## Gary (Jun 29, 2013)

Throwaway mobile phone sim, no registration or activation needed. $1.50.


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## MannDude (Jun 29, 2013)

Not a bad idea. NameCheap WhoIS protection is free for the first year and (cheap) after that. Don't recall the exact price.

Public WhoIS I use a Google Voice number anyway and an old mailing address. If mail were to go to there it gets forwarded to my new address anyway. (or should). With the immaturity of some in this and other communities I don't wish for addresses to be public, but will likely just register a cheap PO Box then if that's the case.


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## Marc M. (Jun 29, 2013)

MannDude said:


> Not a bad idea. NameCheap WhoIS protection is free for the first year and (cheap) after that. Don't recall the exact price.


*@**MannDude* if you register with Name.com just use promo code "privacyplease" and you get free privacy for the first year as well. Might work for renewals, not 100% sure about that. Just thought that this info might be useful to someone...


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## D. Strout (Jun 29, 2013)

I already use accurate info. Somewhat of a bother, I assume (hope) it will only be a one time thing per each e-mail/phone number that's used. I doubt it will help much, and honestly I don't understand why there has to be a publicly accessible database of who owns every domain.


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## maounique (Jun 29, 2013)

Not all TLDs are handled by ICANN, so there will still be free ones (even more as the number grows).

If it comes to that, a sim you can purchase at a machine will do.

Payment info, well, there are way around that, at least working against providers, for the government is harder every day, but, eventually, you will be able to use free subdomains, even free TLDs, or buy from other countries with paysafe or other means.


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## vanarp (Jun 29, 2013)

Marc M. said:


> if you register with Name.com just use promo code "privacyplease" and you get free privacy for the first year as well. Might work for renewals, not 100% sure about that


 
It works for renewals too as I use this feature


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## drmike (Jun 30, 2013)

Gary said:


> Throwaway mobile phone sim, no registration or activation needed. $1.50.


 

Gary, care to explain the mobile sim throwaways and how they come in handy for this.  I've never dealt with them before.  Seems like something I should be better aware of.


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## drmike (Jun 30, 2013)

As far as the new requirements, ICANN should rename itself to ICANT.

I see no reason to have this info. The registry already has something about you for billing purposes and payment (now to avoid that leaking any info too).

What is their intention with this?

All I see are increasing domain prices and decreasing interest/demand.   I'll be looking more at non ICANN TLDs.


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## sv01 (Jun 30, 2013)

Francisco said:


> I'm sure they'll be given a database listing the banks of phone numbers that are used by VOIP providers


and sell our phone number to marketing people.

imagine if I have 100 + domain, that really wasting time.


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## rds100 (Jun 30, 2013)

Relax, soon we will all need an ICP-equivalent license to be allowed to have a website.


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## maounique (Jun 30, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> Gary, care to explain the mobile sim throwaways and how they come in handy for this.  I've never dealt with them before.  Seems like something I should be better aware of.


I can buy them at corner machines along with paysafe cards, recharging cards for sims, etc. They last for 12 months to be called with 4 Eur iirc. So when i need to be called to be "checked" by big brother, i can put it in a phone while being out in town and let them call me.

The phone can then rest till the next phone verification. Battery out and all.


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## rds100 (Jun 30, 2013)

@Mao stranges that you still have these. Here even prepaid SIM cards have to be registered with an ID card, etc. Not anonymous any more.


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## SeriesN (Jun 30, 2013)

rds100 said:


> @Mao stranges that you still have these. Here even prepaid SIM cards have to be registered with an ID card, etc. Not anonymous any more.


Not in amaerica


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## A Jump From Let (Jun 30, 2013)

Time to start a solid back end for people who likes privacy. 

Shall have multiple alternatives for everything, we shall work in that direction, to avoid abuse made by ICANN and such organizations.


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## Gary (Jun 30, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> Gary, care to explain the mobile sim throwaways and how they come in handy for this.  I've never dealt with them before.  Seems like something I should be better aware of.


I'm in the UK, so I can't speak for everywhere but here you can buy prepaid sims (with no calling credit loaded onto them yet) for £1 or even £0.50 sometimes.

Get one of those and put it into your phone and you're set to receive calls and SMS messages. That should allow you to do any phone verification stuff.

In fact, without paying there's: http://www.textnow.com/ and a few other similar sites that let you receive messages to a virtual phone number. Those would be easier for ICANN to blacklist though. Legitimate numbers are probably a better idea.


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## Daniel (Jun 30, 2013)

Why don't ICANN allow you to opt out of .com/.net/.info WHOIS like .eu domains?

But its not as if I have around 50 phone numbers with no link back to me.


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## maounique (Jun 30, 2013)

There is a continuous battle between the government which needs to censor everything so news about what they are doing against their citizens and their interests (including the wars abroad which will eventually cost more and more in terms of lives, resources, support for failed states and bunker states, public opinion condemnation etc) and the corporate greed.

Vodafone, and others will wish for more customers, eventually the prepaid sims will be banned from many services, still, there are always alternatives, not only to .com, net, etc, but also to keep anonymity in spite of the censorship attempts.

In US you cannot be a jurnalist if you are not approved, unless at your own channel/paper. So freedom of speech is more likely the right to proclaim your ideas under the shower in your bathroom with the main public shielded from dangerous ones.


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## GVH-Jon (Jun 30, 2013)

This won't bother me at all. I already post accurate information though.


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## Eric1212 (Jul 3, 2013)

Seems like a good thing. Most businesses that can't have WHOIS Privacy enabled will have a business phone number / email, and even mailing address specifically for the business. 

I agree, maybe they will block a lot of VoIP providers, but there will always be a "way around" that.

Who uses false info on a WHOIS anyways? I think that is putting your domain in risk of cancellation.


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