Windows Web Solutions UPDATE—brought to you by the Windows & .NET Magazine Network
This Issue Sponsored By
IBM Rational software
PolyServe Matrix Server Clustering Software
October 21, 2003--In this issue:
1. Commentary: VeriSign Shuts Down SiteFinder Service Under Pressure from ICANN
2. Keeping Up with IIS
- IIS 6.0 Security Enhancements
3. Announcements
- New Windows & .NET Magazine Web Site Unveiled!
- Readers' Choice and Best of Show Nominees and Winners
4. Resource
- Featured Thread: Logon Problems with FTP Site in IIS 6.0
5. Event
- The Secret Costs of Spam
6. New and Improved
- Measure Application Availability Based on Real Users
- Tell Us About a Hot Product and Get a T-Shirt!
7. Contact Us
- See this section for a list of ways to contact us.
Sponsor: IBM Rational software
Get A Robust Collection of New Developer Resources—FREE
If you're a developer who wants to stay on top of the latest technology, be sure to sign up to receive the latest developer PowerPack from IBM(R) Rational(R) software. Get a robust collection of resources- market-leading evaluation software, technical articles, extensive artifact libraries, webinars, expert presentations, reference posters, and software demos. View what you want. Explore your technical interests. Click Here
1. Commentary: VeriSign Shuts Down SiteFinder Service Under Pressure from ICANN
Did you notice an interesting behavior from your Internet browser about a month ago? If you tried to locate a page on the Internet that didn't exist, your browser might have automatically redirected you to a VeriSign Web page instead of getting the typical error message, "The website cannot be found." On September 15, 2003, VeriSign added a wildcard to two Internet domain zones; in the DNS's top-level domain zones of .com and .net, VeriSign added a record that resolved to 64.94.110.11, the IP address for sitefinder.verisign.com. VeriSign called this redirection its SiteFinder service.
The organization that oversees Internet policies--the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)--gave VeriSign until 6:00 p.m. on October 3, 2003, to stop its SiteFinder service and restore the .com and .net Web domains--or face sanctions.
According to ICANN, VeriSign's actions were having widespread implications. In "UPDATE 2-VeriSign to halt new service as demanded" (http://www.reuters.com), Reuters reported on ICANN's statement about the SiteFinder service: "'There have been widespread expressions of concern about the impact of these changes on the security and stability of the Internet,' ICANN said in its statement. SiteFinder is rendering spam filters ineffective, adversely affecting other automated Web tools and services, creating a single point of failure 'that is likely to be attractive to deliberate attacks' and raising serious privacy issues, according to ICANN. VeriSign's activation of SiteFinder is 'not consistent' with its contract to serve as the main database keeper of all addresses in the '.com' and '.net' domains, ICANN added."
On October 3, VeriSign complied by suspending its controversial new SiteFinder service. "We will accede to the request while we explore all of our options," VeriSign spokesman Tom Galvin told Reuters. Galvin also said that ICANN was using "anecdotal and isolated issues to attempt to regulate non-registry services, but in the interests of further working with the technical community, we will temporarily suspend SiteFinder."
VeriSign's SiteFinder service caused an enormous amount of negative backlash from the Internet community. Why so many people were outraged is easy to see. VeriSign wasn't shy about promoting its services on the SiteFinder Web page, claiming that the Web page would improve the Web-browsing experience. Granted, a friendly error message on a redirect page might improve the Web-browsing experience for the novice user, but an error message on a page filled with numerous VeriSign advertisements is blatant self-promotion.
VeriSign isn't the first registry service provider to test or implement a redirect service. What's shocking is that VeriSign didn't consider the negative ramifications--or maybe it did and didn't care. At least three Internet companies have filed lawsuits against VeriSign.
Sponsor: PolyServe Matrix Server Clustering Software
Want to simplify how web content is published to and managed within your Windows IIS web-tier and escape content replication hassles?
PolyServe Matrix Server software allows many servers to share a common pool of Web content on a SAN allowing each server to independently service HTTP requests directly from the shared storage pool eliminating the need to copy or replicate content from node to node in the web-tier. Data or log file consolidation is now possible, simplifying post-processing, backup, or archiving for compliance audits. FREE web serving solution brief
2. Keeping Up with IIS
To learn how Microsoft has improved the security of Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0, read the Microsoft article "Security Enhancements in Internet Information Services 6.0." You can download this article from the following URL:
3. Announcements
(brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine and its partners)
We are proud to announce the new and improved Windows & .NET Magazine Web site. Discover the fresh, new look and a more simplified way to find answers, news, strategic guidance, and how-to information. Check out our new Web site at
The votes are in! We asked you, our readers, to give us your opinions about the latest industry products and services. Find out who is the best of the best!
4. Resource
Junior forum member Curious2ask is having problems getting users to authenticate to an FTP site. The username and password don't seem to be approved because the logon dialog box keeps reappearing. If you can help resolve this problem, click the following URL:
5. Event
(brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine)
Do you really know spam's hidden costs? In this free Web seminar, you'll learn how to identify and quantify spam's costs by exploring how organizations define and combat spam, and how spam affects your bandwidth, storage, and server processing costs. Don't be left in the dark, register now!
6. New and Improved
TeaLeaf Technology released RealiTea, Web-application management software that measures Web applications' health from the users' perspective. RealiTea monitors and captures every user session and business process. The software identifies, recreates, and diagnoses application-level failures in real time. The RealiTea platform includes four components: Capture (records what users are doing and seeing in real time), Server (correlates and indexes the captured data, providing a visual recording of what users did and saw for each page in a session), Portal (provides a central workspace), and Viewer (replays user sessions to reproduce problems for the IT staff). For licensing and pricing information, contact [email protected]. For more product information, contact TeaLeaf Technology at 415-495-8000 or [email protected].
Have you used a product that changed your IT experience by saving you time or easing your daily burden? Tell us about the product, and we'll send you a Windows & .NET Magazine T-shirt if we write about the product in a future Windows & .NET Magazine What's Hot column. Send your product suggestions with information about how the product has helped you to [email protected].
Sponsored Links
CrossTec
Free Download - NEW NetOp 7.6 - faster, more secure, remote support
MailFrontier
Eliminate spam once and for all. MailFrontier Anti-Spam Gateway.
7. Contact Us
Copyright 2003, Penton Media, Inc.
