An interesting story is unfolding thanks to the detective work of Dan Goodin at the Register and many security researchers. Apparently Directi has “amended its relationship with Estdomains and stopped providing the Estonian registrar with the PrivacyProtect service”.
It’s been reported that Directi CEO Bhavin Turakhia objected to this article that alleged LogicBoxes was associated by Atrivo - an entity that apparently hosts malicious software. The article references work conducted by security researchers. For example:
The whitepaper makes very interesting reading.
It appears that there is some debate as to ICANNs requirements. Some people claim that registrars have to identify their business name and address.
The Register interviewed Turakhia from Directi who allegedly said that the “the companies are incorporated in Delaware, although no employees actually work there” and that “listings for all 48 registrars contain a phone number and email address where a principal can be reached.”
Stacy Burnette, Director of Contractual Compliance at ICANN told The Register that:
“telephone numbers in the contact information need not correspond to the location of incorporation“
“ICANN doesn’t require registrars to publicly disclose their place of incorporation.“
What The? This has got me thinking about my domain portfolio…. the Registerfly issues last year…. perhaps it’s time to track down exactly where the registrars trade and who is behind them.
