14 DAY TRIAL // Several security experts are outraged and complaining about a new measure .name controllers took and that just might be helping cyber-crime. GNR (Global Name Registry) is the company that administers the .name domain - they've recently made a modification in their "whois" system - if you want to find out the full details of a certain domain registration, then you have to pay. The fee is not huge - it's only $2 but researchers do not wish to pay.
Any other "whois" search out there gives full info and is free, but with .name you have to pay and ICANN has nothing to say about this since they have a contract with GNR and their actions are legitimate.
Some of you are going to say that $2 is a small price that anyone can afford - you may be right, but paying them over the web slows things down and researchers want things to work as fast as possible. In addition, this is a small sum, if talking about one domain, but if the numbers go higher, you'll end up paying thousands of dollars just for a piece of info that would be free anywhere else.
As Wired informs, Gadi Evron, one of the leading authorities on zombie computer networks said: "What they have done is made sure the .name TLD is free haven for bad guys to lurk on," Evron said. "If I need to report 1,000 domains, I'm not going pay $2,000."
Also, as the same site informs, Swa Frantzen (volunteer handler at SANS Internet Storm Center) said: "It feels like extortion. No matter the small amounts involved, it becomes a problem as it means spending money, authorizations, purchases orders and having authorized users for credit cards. All sorts of things that slow it down dramatically."
This is bound to affect security, since it will limit researchers' works. They will most probably not engage in policing that part of the web, a fact which just might cause an escalation of cyber-crime.