Re: Is the .to (Tonga) domain completely rogue and should be removed?

[Jeremy Porter <jerry () freeside fc net>]

Not that I would advocate such activity, but unless there
exists an extradition treaty that allows for computer trespass
or denial of service attacks, I imagine that a few weeks of
being hacked and DoS attacks would have them reconsidering
the fee's that they charge to spam houses.  Or they could
be put on the RBL list, and i imagine people that are using
.to for non spam reasons, would demand something be done.

Despite other's protest, there is accountablility in the Internet
even without accountability in local, state, federal, or international
courts.
There seems very little risk involved in doing something active
to solve the problem due to the nature of international law, etc.
(If they sue you in a Tonga court, what good will that do?  If the
sue in a us court what basis can they claim if they are really
part of Tonga, at any rate in action in the US opens them up to
legal action from you.)

In message <199809301922.AA13202 () world std com>, Barry Shein writes:
> We've been having increasing problems with one or more porn sites in
> the .to domain promoting itself by massive spamming of AOL customers
> using one of our domains in their From: header thus causing both
> complaints to us and thousands of bounces from AOL due to bad AOL
> addresses in their spam lists.
>
> Looking at the .to domain I can't help but notice it's heavily laden
> with what appear to be porn sites (sexonline.to, come.to,
> xxxhardcore.to, etc.)
>
> 1. Performing traceroutes and other analyses seems to indicate that
> this domain is NOT being used for communication with entities
> legitimately located (legally, not only geographically) within the
> sovereignty of the Kingdom of Tonga, as intended.
>
> 2. Clearly criminal and malicious activites are arising from sites to
> which Tonga has provided comfort and sanctuary.
>
> 3. Therefore, I call for a process whereby it can be determined as to
> whether or not it is appropriate to decommission the Tongan domain due
> to negligence, mismanagement, and having allowed it to become an
> attractive resource for criminal activities. I do not believe the
> Tongan domain serves any legitimate purpose as an internet resource.
>
> In support of this assertion I want to show you an SMTP conversation
> with what claims to be the Consulate of the Government of Tonga in San
> Francisco (This San Francisco office is listed as an official Tongan
> contact point for visas etc by the US State Dept):
>
> world% telnet sfconsulate.gov.to 25
> Trying 209.24.51.169...
> Connected to sfconsulate.gov.to.
> Escape character is '^]'.
> 220 colo.to SMTP ready, Who are you gonna pretend to be today?
> VRFY postmaster
> 500 Bloody Amateur! Proper forging of mail requires recognizable SMTP commands
> !
>
> --------------------
>
> Viewing the web page for the Tongan Consulate in the US
> (http://sfconsulate.gov.to) reveals nothing but an ad for a software
> company, this page ends with:
>
>   Need a domain name? Contact the Kingdom of Tonga Internet domain name
>                                 registry.
>
> --------------------
>
> Consequently, I assert there is no reason for this domain to exist and
> it should be removed from the root name servers.
>
>
> -- 
>        -Barry Shein
>
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---
Jeremy Porter, Freeside Communications, Inc.      jerry () fc net
PO BOX 80315 Austin, Tx 78708  | 512-458-9810
http://www.fc.net