Software reVisions
CatEyesPromotions.us...
The ccTLD ".us" is not just for government.
Got an email today signed...
What got me suspicious, aside from the fact I had no idea who this person was, was the email address they gave in the text of "Cat@CatEyesPromotions.us". No quotes. It was an email link.
Notice the ".us"!
My research found dozens of hits on Google for various promotions-like sites of all different kinds. If you're interested, here's the Google search results.
The top level domain ".us", which is the registered country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) for U.S. city, county, state and federal government entities, can actually be registered by anyone.
Any U.S. citizen, organization, company, or foreign company "with a bona fide presence" in the U.S. can use ".us".
You don't see too many non-government ones though. The most widely recognized is probably del.icio.us. There is an official naming convention for government use of ".us", but then many agencies still use .gov (which is restricted) or .com which is just more confusing.
Is it deceptive to allow most anyone to use ".us"?
On the other hand, lots of people depend on the country code TLD for other countries in judging the safety of a link before clicking.
Is this "profiling"?
Yes.
Is it justified?
I don't know. Fodder for another post maybe?
Now, this person may very well be really named "Cat Gregory", work for the Texas Lottery Commission as well as "CatEyesPromotions.us" and just sent her email to the wrong person.
However, given the Internet's "target rich environment" for fraud, theft and otherwise malicious "entrepreneurship", caution would seem prudent.
Comments pro or con?
Reference
It was written as if "Cat" knew me and was talking about someone "we" knew who had to evacuate due to wildfires.Cat GregoryLicensing ExaminerCharitable Bingo Operation DivisionTexas Lottery Commission
What got me suspicious, aside from the fact I had no idea who this person was, was the email address they gave in the text of "Cat@CatEyesPromotions.us". No quotes. It was an email link.
Notice the ".us"!
My research found dozens of hits on Google for various promotions-like sites of all different kinds. If you're interested, here's the Google search results.
The top level domain ".us", which is the registered country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) for U.S. city, county, state and federal government entities, can actually be registered by anyone.
Any U.S. citizen, organization, company, or foreign company "with a bona fide presence" in the U.S. can use ".us".
You don't see too many non-government ones though. The most widely recognized is probably del.icio.us. There is an official naming convention for government use of ".us", but then many agencies still use .gov (which is restricted) or .com which is just more confusing.
Is it deceptive to allow most anyone to use ".us"?
On the other hand, lots of people depend on the country code TLD for other countries in judging the safety of a link before clicking.
Is this "profiling"?
Yes.
Is it justified?
I don't know. Fodder for another post maybe?
Now, this person may very well be really named "Cat Gregory", work for the Texas Lottery Commission as well as "CatEyesPromotions.us" and just sent her email to the wrong person.
However, given the Internet's "target rich environment" for fraud, theft and otherwise malicious "entrepreneurship", caution would seem prudent.
Comments pro or con?
Reference
Labels: domain names
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