Is Muddleworks scanning your DNS too?

Joseph S D Yao jsdy at center.osis.gov
Sun Dec 1 03:49:38 UTC 2002


On Sat, Nov 30, 2002 at 08:45:03PM -0500, Danny Mayer wrote:
> At 10:59 AM 11/29/02, Joseph S D Yao wrote:
> > > What is the status of DNS data?  Is it in the public domain?  Or is
> > > it implicitly copyright, but made available for limited use (similar
> > > to the data in published telephone directories).
> >
> >Data in published telephone books is the property of the telephone
> >company, not of the subscriber.  Is this theft?
> 
> I believe that telephone numbers, at least in the US, are still owned by
> the telephone company. You just have the right to use it.

I believe that it's a little more complicated than that - telephone
numbers are regulated by some telco equivalent to the IANA, and handed
out to the telcos for their use in some large [less large now than
previously] batches.  The numbers are handed out by the telcos to their
subscribers.  I do not know whether the numbers themselves are "owned"
by anybody in that hierarchy.  The interesting information, of course,
is the relationship between the numbers and the subscribers.  This is
available through multiple telephone books, including the Criss-Cross
directory at your local public library [the telco equivalent of reverse
DNS].  It is available wherever either the subscriber or the telco
[unless it is "unlisted"] chooses to publish it.  Does this make the
information "public domain"?  Or is it "owned" by one of the above
parties?  I certainly do not have the legal chops to argue it.  But I
doubt that the telco would give away salable "rights", FWIW.

-- 
Joe Yao				jsdy at center.osis.gov - Joseph S. D. Yao
OSIS Center Systems Support					EMT-B
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