Sitefinder

To:  VeriSign

We the webmasters, and websurfers of the Internet feel that VeriSign has made a significant mistake by adding a wildcard to .com, .net, TLD DNS zones. What this means is that most mis-typed domain names that would formerly have resulted in a helpful error message now results in a VeriSign advertising opportunity. For example, if the intended website domain name was 'somecompany.com,' and somebody typed 'soemcompany.com' by mistake, they would get VeriSign's advertising. (VeriSign is the parent company of Network Solutions, another company which was contracted by the US government of running the .COM and .NET top-level-domains).
Some have pointed out that the same system is in effect for email as well. A mistyped email can end up at Verisign’s system. VeriSign has not made very accessible what they intend to do with such information.

This also has a significant impact on anti-spam efforts, which often check if a domain name is valid. As a result of them all being valid, this method is no longer effective.

VeriSign has abused its power and needs to be stopped. We the petitioners ask that VeriSign reverse its modifications to the worlds internet, and lawmakers take appropriate steps to limit contractors power over civilians private and professional lives.


Note: Thanks to Slashdot readers for analyzing the situation and providing necessary probing to fully understand and document the situation. As well as the many pre-written complaint letters this is based off of.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Sitefinder Petition to VeriSign was created by Web Community and written by Robert Accettura.  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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