hostcount features [Re: [ncc-services-wg] RIPE50 - NCC Services WG Draft Minutes]

Pavel Vachek wrote:

> This data has been extremely useful for us as it helped us
> find organisations trying to misuse the CESNET IP space. Our
> access to the raw hostcount data stopped in January 2005 as well.

while this is tempting and depending on who actually does the necessary
"grep" might be covered by the AUP, I'd like to state that the issue is
two-edged.

First, it's never complete, so you only find those organisations who both
happen to use the wrong IP addresses and are within your TLD, while
nothing prevents them from using COM, BIZ or XXX {filter food} names as well.

Second, and more important, this kind of policing, although it has been done
for years, might reduce the willingness of affected and other parties to
allow AXFR access. Experience shows that many organisations have only and
explicitly granted AXFR access to support the hostcount statistics data
collection (and some DNS quality postprocessing). So, declaring "raw data
access" a feature of the hostcount is detrimental to its success. It was a
side effect that's gone.

-Peter

PS: Just to be clear: the DE hostcount raw data must not be published.