Many times I used the anonymous proxy service at godaddy.com to register domain names in order to keep my domains from being spammed, or sometimes to keep a customer’s private address off the internet. But now the U.S. Commerce Dept. has ordered registrars to stop allowing anonymous proxies on domain names with the.us extension.
According to Wired, The move does not affect owners of .com and .net domains. But it means website owners with .us domains will no longer be able to shield their name and contact information from public eyes. The Electronic Privacy Information Center said the move violates First Amendment rights to anonymous free speech. And the representative of one of the largest domain-registration companies is concerned that customers who have been victims of stalkers won’t be able to protect their privacy without changing their web address to a domain that offers anonymity.
I think that nothing good can come out of a move like this from the Commerce Dept. It needs to stay out of the domain name arena, or next they’ll taking away domain names they judge to be controversial.