Is WHOIS going to go away?

Sat Apr 14 17:14:10 UTC 2018

On Sat, Apr 14, 2018 at 02:21:59PM +0000, Filip Hruska wrote:
> EURID (.eu) WHOIS already works on a basis that no information about the
> registrant is available via standard WHOIS.
> In order to get any useful information you have to go to
> https://whois.eurid.eu and make a request there.
> 
> Seems like a reasonable solution.

It's not.  All WHOIS information should be completely available
with no limits, no restrictions, in bulk form to everyone -- so that
everyone running every operation is identifiable to their peers and thus
accountable to their peers.  I understand that some people don't want to
be exposed to that, and that's fine: but then they shouldn't be running
an Internet-connected operation.

The only people served by restriction on WHOIS availability are abusers
and attackers, and the entities (e.g., registrars) who profit from them.

---rsk