DISQUS

Even false Whois data can help protect consumers and companies. Consider just these three examples:

When we see false data in Whois, it's a signal that someone with bad intentions may be at work in that domain. And when that same false data is also present in other domains, we use it to proactively investigate activities on those domains.

Law enforcement and industry use Whois to help notify victims of phishing emails presumably being sent by the victim.

Finally, law enforcement and industry use Whois to notify those whose domains have been infected with bots that are broadcasting phishing, spam or denial of service attacks.

Adam -- Glad to have you re-engage in the SSTP debate, although I don't think it's right to assume that the Quill decision is acting as a brake on the trainwreck that is SSTP.  (Gosh how I wish it were true)

You suggest that “taxation without representation” was a factor in Quill, but the ruling held that North Dakota broke no "due process" rules in attempting to regulate a retailer (Quill) who choose to ship products into North Dakota.  It's going to take more than that to stop a tax collector. 

The good news is that Quill also held that that the present patchwork system of 7,500 taxing jurisdictions with contradictory rules and multiple filing requirements constituted an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce.  That's the only reason North Dakota wasn't allowed to force Quill to collect & remit sales tax on shipments to residents of the state.

Quill essentially left the states with two options:

1. Simplify their sales tax systems and come back to the Court to show it’s no longer an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce; or

2. Since Congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce, ask them to force sellers to collect remote sales taxes (whether they're simple or not!)

A handful of states are pursuing option 2, and they’re making dangerous progress.  Particularly when you give them a Democratic majority.  And you have to worry that SSTP proponents will try using the internet access tax moratorium bill as a locomotive to pull their train through Congress this year.

I’m reluctant to disagree with an ally, but I think we all need to wake up to the real threat that SSTP could impose new burdens on e-commerce retailers.  I can hear that train a-coming...