Domain Registration Related News
Whois: Watch out for that "White List"
May 2004
ICANN's revision of its Whois policy is
reaching a critical phase. After numerous deadline
extensions, the three task forces are scheduled to
submit their final reports May 28.
There is the potential for great progress here,
but there is also a strong possibility that the
whole reform effort will be undercut and rendered
meaningless by the creation of a so-called "White
List" that would give the IPR lawyers free rein to
all Whois data merely by asking for it.
During the WHOIS review process, the forces of
privacy protection and individual rights have made
substantial headway, due to a combination of
pressure from the registrars (especially European
ones), European data protection officials, the
Noncommercial Users Constituency, and the ALAC.
But there are strong vested interests at work.
By permitting (and even requiring) Whois data to
be available to intellectual property monitoring
firms for several years, ICANN has fostered the
creation of commercial information services based
on unlimited access to whois data. It has created
an entire generation of IPR lawyers who believe
that they have a God-given right to rummage
through all domain name holders' contact data at
any time, for any reason.
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