| whois changes defeated: ICANN will continue study |
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| Written by Stephen Withers | |
| Thursday, 01 November 2007 | |
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Instead, the committee passed a motion calling for further study. On one hand, privacy advocates say there is no good reason why people should have to reveal their contact information to the public just because they want a domain name. If you want a domain name to make it easier for your parents and in-laws to see the latest photos of their grandkids, why should your address be available to the world? On the other, whois can reveal useful information about the operator of a web site, so police and intellectual-property lawyers are keen to keep it. While the ICANN rules say people must provide and maintain correct details, nothing is done to check the contents of whois records. Consequently, anyone using a domain for dubious purposes (as well as individuals more concerned with their privacy than blind obedience to rules) can easily give false details. Furthermore, the current rules conflict with data protection laws - notably those in Europe - that require an 'opt in' process before personal information can be made public. One compromise suggestion is that "natural persons" registering domain names for non-commercial purposes should be exempted from having their contact details made public. The reason for the current rules is historical. In the early days of the Internet, the relatively small number of sites involved needed a mechanism to allow system administrators to contact each other to keep the network working. These days, only a small minority of those registering domain names actually manage the systems they relate point to.
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