Similarly, many entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the Internet to launch their businesses and may be operating out of their own homes. But, in both these cases, many people who register domain names are unaware that their home address and phone number will immediately become available to any Internet user in the world. A third issue closely tied to the privacy concerns outlined above, but with First Amendment implications, is that the current level of privacy protections essentially eliminates the ability of Internet users to anonymously register domain names. Anonymous publication of information is well recognized in U.S. case law. Whether legislation is necessary to safeguard the privacy interests of Americans who register an Internet domain name.
Privacy protection is critical to establish trust and confidence in network services.
We believe that the recent decision by Network Solutions to sell data on Internet users provided simply for the purpose of domain name registration poses a substantial risk to the future growth of the Internet. We urge you to pursue this issue.