netiquette & zone transfers

[Barry Margolin]

In article <slrn8dev0e.h51.oexel at queluz.economatica.com.br>,
Otavio Exel <oexel at economatica.com.br> wrote:
>is it bad netiquette to attempt unauthorized zone transfers?

It depends on why.  If you're trying to troubleshoot a DNS problem, zone
transfers can be a useful technique.

>while experimenting with dns tools in order to get familiar with the DNS
>protocol (unix semi-newbye here) I did many unauthorized zone transfers
>from servers here in my country (Brazil); after a while I got some
>rather hostile messages from the admins of the ".br" domain;
>
>am I doing something wrong that I'm no aware of?
>is it really such a crime to attempt unauthorized zone transfers?
>is there a related document I should/could read?

Some people list domains for nefarious reasons (e.g. looking for machines
to try to hack into) and a paranoid network administrator is likely to
assume the worst.

Stick to domains that you're authorized to access, and no one should
complain.

-- 
Barry Margolin, barmar at bbnplanet.com
GTE Internetworking, Powered by BBN, Burlington, MA
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