CDR: ICANNt have privacy with whois
anonymous at openpgp.net
anonymous at openpgp.net
Wed Nov 15 16:54:39 PST 2000
Public Records Questioned on Web
By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer
MARINA DEL REY, Calif.--As more individuals build their own Web sites,
some privacy advocates now question requirements that the site owners disclose
their personal contact information.
Names, e-mail addresses, postal addresses and telephone numbers for more
than 24 million domain names are stored in databases called Whois. The
information is available to anyone with an Internet connection.
Its like a global phone directory -without the option for an unlisted number.
"Sacrificing your privacy should not be a condition of access to the domain
space," said Alan Davidson, staff counsel with the Center for Democracy and
Technology.
Most people may not care and would list their contact information anyway,
just like most telephone customers now list their numbers.
But Davidson said Internet users ought to have a choice -for instance, they
may want to stay anonymous if they are human rights advocates and other
dissidents fearful of repercussion from oppressive governments.
Ellen Rony, author of the Domain Name Handbook, said she knew of
someone stalked based on information from the databases.
On the other hand, she said, the tool proves helpful for researchers to gauge
the origins and veracity of Web sites, and the stalking incident appears an
aberration.
"I can see both sides," she said. "Historically, Whois is always public."
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees
the master record keeper of Web addresses and the domain registration
companies, currently requires disclosure of contact information for holders of
.com, .net and .org names.
Andrew McLaughlin, ICANNs chief policy officer, said the organization may
have to revisit Whois policies next year, but it is not on the agenda for its annual
meeting this week.
Part of the drive comes from the European Union, which passed a law
prohibiting the transfer of data to the United States and other non-EU countries
that dont meet EU standards for protecting personal information.
Back in the 1980s, when the Whois database was developed, Internet privacy
wasnt a big deal. The Internet was mostly a research tool for government and
universities.
"We all knew each other," said Karl Auerbach, a longtime Internet user who
was recently elected to ICANN.
But these days, Auerbach said, that same Whois database creates unwanted
e-mail and unsolicited phone calls.
Davidson said times have changed, and the Internet must change as well.
"Now, you have regular people using it and theres a much greater need to
protect privacy," he said.
Registration companies offer access to the databases in order to let users
determine whether the domain names they want are available. But when a name is
taken, the registrar often links to the records for that name as well.
The idea is to help users contact the names owner for possible purchase, even
though the databases originally helped computer administrators contact one
another when networks go awry.
Lawyers also use the databases to check on names that may tread on their
clients trademark rights. Steven J. Metalitz, vice president for the International
Intellectual Property Alliance, said such open access is important to deter abusers.
At VeriSign Global Registry Services, which runs the databases for .com, .net
and .org, Vice President Chuck Gomes said technology may settle the issue in the
next year or two.
New tools, he said, could help meet the needs of law enforcement officials and
trademark owners while protecting privacy for individuals in other circumstances.
In the meantime, the records remain open, and many of the proposals for new
domain suffixes call for open Whois databases as well.
"Its the model thats out there," said John Kane, head of a marketing task
force for Afilias, which is seeking a .web suffix. "Its a public resource. You dont
own a domain name. You own the right to use it."
http://www.latimes.com/wires/20001115/tCB00V0232.html
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