Is WHOIS going to go away?

Thu Apr 19 21:57:48 UTC 2018

One of the memes driving this WHOIS change is the old idea of
"starving the beast".

People involved in policy discussions complain that "spammers" -- many
only marginally fit that term other than by the strictest
interpretation -- use the public WHOIS data to contact domain owners.

I've countered that 20+ years experience trying to "starve the beast"
by trying to deny them access to email and other casual contact info
has proven the approach to be useless.

Choosing the privacy options on your domain registration is probably
just as, if not more, effective.

Another argument against this whole idea is that in most countries one
is required by law to provide valid contact information if they are
doing business with the general public. That would include soliciting
donations etc.

And that's essentially why domains exist, organizational contact.

This trend towards "vanity" domains is relatively recent and really
the only reason one can even claim there is a problem. Granted there's
that gray area of dissident political movements etc. but their full
time job is protecting their identity.

I doubt Microsoft or General Motors are excited to see that their
domain registration contact information will soon be protected by law.

-- 
        -Barry Shein

Software Tool & Die    | bzs at TheWorld.com             | http://www.TheWorld.com
Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: +1 617-STD-WRLD       | 800-THE-WRLD
The World: Since 1989  | A Public Information Utility | *oo*