[clug] .com vs .org

[Scott Ferguson]

On 05/02/13 13:28, Ivan Lazar Miljenovic wrote:
> On 5 February 2013 13:17, Stephen Rothwell <sfr at canb.auug.org.au> wrote:
>> Hi Bob,
>>
>> On Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:12:37 +1100 Robert Edwards <bob at cs.anu.edu.au> wrote:
>>>
>>> Can any of the fine minds on this list suggest what she may have been
>>> referring to by this remark, that dot coms are to be trusted more than
>>> dot orgs?


I strongly suspect she was, um, confused. Though I've read, um, "less
informed" opinions on how to tell if a website is trustworthy - mostly
it's just cyber-phrenology.

>>
>> Personally, I would not trust a web site just because it was a .com or
>> a .org - anyone can register either name with no proof of anything.  The
>> trust belongs to the particular site.
> 
> There are further requirements for .com.au and .org.au with regards to
> actually needing to be a charity or something though, aren't there?


Supposed to be - your mileage will vary.
Accredited registrars and registered resellers agree to check for proof
of business before registering any .com.* TLD, and proof on non-profit
status before registering any .org.* TLD. Most of us are scrupulous (I
check, and I check that the address is legal also) about it but...

;The majority of resellers won't check (and they're not registered so
there's no come-back on them anyway)
;if ASIC and ABR won't check that a company address is legal (it's quite
common for dodgy businesses to use "virtual" office addresses) - how can
you expect registrars and resellers to do due diligence instead of
checking the ABN/ACN records?

Additionally there's no real checks performed before someone can become
a domain name reseller. And particularly in some parts of the world -
it's common for cyber criminals to become domain name resellers, SSL
certificate sellers, and run their own hosting company.

Certainly I've knocked back applications for domain name registrations
and renewals that were just processed by the next registrar.

Some useful links:-
http://www.auda.org.au/reseller_search.php?query=NameYouWantToCheck
http://www.auda.org.au/registrars/accredited-registrars/
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/false-whois-data/


> 
>> --
>> Cheers,
>> Stephen Rothwell                    sfr at canb.auug.org.au
>>

Kind regards