ICANN Punts on Whois Privacy Proposal

[Domains_Aamir]

"The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has essentially put off consideration of a proposal that would have dissolved a requirement that domain name registrars collect and display personal information about people who register Web site names. Privacy activists said the WHOIS database has become a data-mining dream for marketers and spammers, to say nothing of stalkers and harassers. Companies representing some of the world's biggest brand names appear to have prevailed, arguing that any change to the current system would interfere with law enforcement investigations and trademark disputes. In the end, ICANN voted 7-17 to table the issue in favor of further studies on the privacy impact of the WHOIS database."

-

Personally I'm glad they're looking further into the issue. It's way too useful a tool to make quick decisions, though Icann is not known for quick decisions. :)

--

Found here: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/02/163242

Articles: http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/whois-comments-summary-30oct07.pdf

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/10/net_governance_body_punts_on_w.html

[Jeff]

I'm not sure what the solution is. On one hand "scum" companies like "Domain Registry of America" and now "Domain Hosting of America" continue to send me unsolicited postal spam "invoices" for any and all domains registered with legitimate whois data... if a company who is able to function as a domain reigistrar is harvesting the whois database, I'm sure a lot of my other junk mail comes from there as well. On the other hand, the whois information is a valuable asset, not only to see who owns a domain in case of trademark infringement, but also as a contact mechanism in cases of abuse, to establish the legitmacy of a website location, etc. etc.

[Domains_Aamir]

I agree about the fact that it's a valuable tool. As a registrar, it shows us at a glance whether or not an issue belongs to us by showing if it's registered through us or not. Believe it or not, many IT industry verterans do not know the first thing about domain names outside of the fact that you need one. Consequently, we get a high number of requests for help from people who do not work with us.

In addition it's also something of a sales function for some people within our industry. For instance, if you see a domain name that you want, contact the admin address to see if there's possibility of a sale.

Just adding to the topic...

Thanks,