[NA-Discuss] Getting the WHOIS word out to users

[Ross Rader]

RJGlass | America at Large wrote:

> It is this reason that we should discuss this issue and encourage ICANN 
> follow a certain path.  This highlights the responsibility to our 
> constituency.  This is not just a legal issue, it's beyond that.  
> Rather, there are moral ramifications across borders.

The GNSO is about to come to yet another impasse on the Whois issue at 
the upcoming meeting. Recognizing this, I have proposed a motion to the 
GNSO Council that essentially states "Recognizing that there is no 
community consensus on Whois policy, the GNSO recommends that ICANN 
sunset all Registry/Registrar whois requirements [within one year? or 
something like that..]"

If carried and accepted by the board, I believe this motion would have 
the effect of changing the incentives for the intellectual property, law 
enforcement and intransigent registry/registrar community such that they 
would be more threatened by losing their precious status quo and 
therefore more inclined to engage in good faith policy negotiations with 
one another. This is not happening now.

I fully expect that this motion will also fail to pass. However, I 
believe it will be important for the ICANN Board and the GNSO to hear 
clearly that ICANN is failing to protect the rights and interests of 
registrants and users. They must hear that it is no longer tolerable to 
sacrifice the interests of registrants and users in order to placate the 
Hollywood and Washington.

ICANN needs more than encouragement on this issue. It needs to hear from 
a strong, clear and unified voice that the status quo is no longer 
acceptable and in the absence of measurable progress, must immediately 
curb the rampant privacy abuse that comes from the maintenance of this 
unnecessary and unwanted service.

For those of you that remain unconvinced that Whois abuse is 
commonplace, here is a great blog post by an unlicensed data miner who 
feels secure enough in the current regulatory environment to come out of 
the closet and offer subscription based access to your data...

http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/10/registrant-search/


-r