Will the WhoIs be Eliminated?

The Globe and Mail published an interesting article this about the Whois and whether or not it should be scrapped. ICANN Members are set to vote on whether or not to scrap the Whois today at the organization’s meeting in Los Angeles.

What is the Whois you ask? It is a group of databases that tells you who owns each and every domain out there (almost, sometimes this information is harder to track down and some registrars allow their customers the option of choosing a fake name and contact info when registering). Every registrar requires that customers fill out this information, which is then submitted to a database that can be accessed by anyone searching the WhoIs. Look for the domain you are interested in, and voila – you get the owner’s name, address and phone number. As the Globe and Mail article calls it – Whois is the “411” of the Internet.

From “Whois May Be Scrapped to Break Deadlock”:

”The Whois database is in fact the best, most well-recognized tool that we have to be able to track down who in fact you are doing business with,” said Bohannon, the trade group’s general counsel, adding that alternatives such as issuing subpoenas to service providers take more time and cost money.

Nonetheless, some privacy advocates are proposing scrapping the system entirely because they can’t agree with the people who use the system on how to give domain name owners more options when they register — such as designating third-party agents. Privacy advocates say individuals shouldn’t have to reveal personal information simply to have a Web site.

 

Up for debate this week is whether or not a registrant’s information should be published to the Internet. Many believe the proposal has little hope of being passed, but others are strongly in favour of ending the Whois, even if temporarily, and believe that the only way to protect privacy or restructure the service is to stop the Whois and then evaluate. An ICANN working group has placed the option of designating a Third-Party Group as a Whois contact on the table. This would mean that anyone registering a domain will still has to provide correct contact information in order to register, but could hide this information from being searched online through the Whois database. Elimination of the tool altogether would be a shame, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room to correct flaws and address privacy. No matter which side of the debate you fall on, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Stay tuned, we will keep you posted.

For more information:

Washington Post article “Internet Policymakers May Punt on Privacy Issue”

UPDATE:

ICANN voted to defer a decision on whether the Whois should remain public, deciding further study was needed. The committee also rejected the proposal to give registrants the option to to list third-party contacts rather than their personal information.

Read more on the ruling in CIO Today.