October '07 Dispatches 10/31/07

When I walked outside to leave for work yesterday morning, it seemed too early even though I was running late, and for the first time this season the car was frosty. It wasn't a hard frost that you have to scrape off but a soft frost like on the outside of a beer mug, the kind that slumps off on its own. Next weekend, we will say good-bye to daylight savings time, and the sun won't be so blinding on my little commute to work. It's a week late this year. My circadian rhythms are ready for it. As one who's embraced change and especially new technologies more than most of my peers, I have never quite adapted to daylight savings time. It probably comes down to the fact that I am just not a morning person. Even though I managed to get up and at 'em all those years of getting the boys off to school (often three different schools), it was never easy or natural for me. Left to choose on my own, I would stay up late into the night.

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The Associated Press released a story Monday about ICANN's (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) consideration of doing away with the "Whois" database. The article claims that the database is useful to intellectual property attorneys and industry insiders and suggests that "privacy advocates" think that access to the information should be limited in some way, rather than available to all who have the wherewithal and knowledge with which to access it:

Nonetheless, some privacy advocates are proposing scrapping the system entirely because they can't agree with the people who use the system on how to give domain name owners more options when they register — such as designating third-party agents. Privacy advocates say individuals shouldn't have to reveal personal information simply to have a Web site.

The so-called "sunset" proposal is expected to come up Wednesday before a committee of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, a key Internet oversight agency.

It will have a tough time winning approval — and could create chaos. But the fact that abandoning Whois is on the table underscores frustrations among privacy advocates that ICANN appears on the verge of launching new studies and deferring a decision yet again after some six years of debate.

Having owned multiple domains I can understand why, in some cases, website owners would prefer to have a layer of privacy between them and public scrutiny. Under the current system, it's not that hard to achieve. On the other hand, I've also been the victim of "cybersquatting" and believe that unfettered access to the Whois database is needed by anyone who seeks to register or own a domain, and that over time, this group will become larger rather than smaller. Ultimately, open access has characterized the internet up until now and I see no reason to make the ability to learn who owns a domain (website) available to only an elite few, or even just to those who can afford to pay for it. In cases where anonymity is needed, domain purchasers can hire an attorney to purchase the domain for them. I would choose pay for anonymity, keep access free, but that's just my humble opinion.

UPDATE 11/1/07: The proposed measure did not pass: "Instead, the ICANN council voted 17-7 to continue studying whether it should abandon its policy requiring domain site owners' personal or proxy information to appear on a Whois search." From Wired News.

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The New York Times in their recent article, The New Advertising Outlet: Your Life explains at least a portion of the complex interactive advertising strategy of Nike, crunching some numbers about interactive vs. traditional advertising spending at Nike and beyond, and how those numbers are trending (you can guess). Nike's multi-channel interactive approach to connecting with and engaging consumers was previously reported in depth in posts by rDialogue founder Phil Rubin on his rDialogue Blogue. In April, he posted Nike + iPod = A Relevant Partnership and in June, he examined Nike + iPod, Part II, but I especially wanted to bring attention to his most recent post, New Orleans: Back for the Future? Tourism Loyalty is a Must, an evaluation of New Orleans' tourism challenges and opportunities, told from the point of view of a loyalty marketing expert who grew up and went to grad school in the Crescent City. Rubin advocates the city's various tourism organizations take a loyalty approach to tap into the existing but widely dispersed good will:

Through a concerted effort by all of the tourism organizations, the private sector and other local organizations, New Orleans can build a sustainable dialogue with many more people by including a more significant focus on current visitors.  These visitors need to be identified, engaged and romanced by their trip so that they leave excited about returning and ready to spread that feeling.

Go. Now. Read.

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In an October 21st post entitled Free My Phone Walt Mossberg, on his Mossblog, compares American wireless carriers to the dictatorial Soviet Union of old. He suggests that we (we being Americans because it's not like this in the rest of the world) wouldn't tolerate our computers coming with the kind of restrictions we simply accept from our wireless carriers, restrictions on what hardware and software we can use relative to the network(s) on which we use them, concluding:

A shortsighted and often just plain stupid federal government has allowed itself to be bullied and fooled by a handful of big wireless phone operators for decades now. And the result has been a mobile phone system that is the direct opposite of the PC model. It severely limits consumer choice, stifles innovation, crushes entrepreneurship, and has made the U.S. the laughingstock of the mobile-technology world, just as the cellphone is morphing into a powerful hand-held computer...

...We need a wireless mobile device ecosystem that mirrors the PC/Internet ecosystem, one where the consumers’ purchase of network capacity is separate from their purchase of the hardware and software they use on that network. It will take government action, or some disruptive technology or business innovation, to get us there.

Advances in technology have always outpaced consumer protection. The question is, "How do we get there from here?"

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Peace, out, y'all.