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

[Jim Klossner <jkk () frontiernet net>]

On Wed, Sep 30, 1998 at 12:42:58PM -0700, Karl Mueller <karl () best net> wrote:

> I have two proposals:
>
> 1) Clearly, .COM is used for criminal and malicious activities.
>    I propose that we remove it due to abuse.

Don't forget .ORG, .NET, .EDU, etc.  After all, porn and/or spam might be
coming from those as well!  Since when do the root nameservers become
responsible for monitoring and controlling spam and porn?  I never understood
that as one of their responsibilities.  If it suddenly became that way,
I'll be more than happy to forward them a list of spam domains that they can 
take care of.

> 2) Barry Shein serves no useful purpose and should also be removed.

Agreed.  Obviously this message served no useful purpose, so according
to the message below, Barry Shein and .std.com should be removed.

-jkk

> Karl
>
> > 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
> >
> > Software Tool & Die    | bzs () world std com          | http://www.world.com
> > Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: 617-739-0202        | Login: 617-739-WRLD
> > The World              | Public Access Internet     | Since 1989     *oo*

-- 
Jim Klossner - jkk () frontiernet net           http://www.frontiernet.net
Lead System Engineer                            Frontier GlobalCenter
"I'm a krill.  The whales aren't working today..."