+1, but I will add some more here. Under 18 USC 1037(4) the use of false whois information of two or more domain names used in commercial e-mail is a crime. If the Whois information is considered useless, why would it be a crime to provide false information? False whois information has always been a factor in determining bad faith registration in ACPA and UDRP actions. And lets not forget the argument, that the FTC used for not requiring the labeling of spam; people who will disobey the rule will be breaking the law, so why bother having the rule? With that law, I'd like to suggest some other changes in the law, eliminate tax evasion laws because only tax evaders will break it.
+1 John.
On 2011/01/31 18:37, John R. Levine wrote: ....
I talk to many of the same law enforcement people that Neil does, and I hear the same thing: even in its current imperfect form WHOIS is an invaluable tool for tracking down the criminals who prey on the non-technical users that the ALAC purportedly represents. You may not like it, but it's the truth.
In fact this should be old news for Lutz, see http://www.icann.org/en/presentations/leibowitz-mar-26jun06.pdf: " In some instances, though, even inaccurate Whois information can be useful in tracking down Internet fraud operators. " [Jon Leibowitz, FTC]
All I can say here is that whois details does serve to link together malicious and predatory behavior on the net, and in some cases prevent and defend ordinary Internet users from that abuse some put the net to, the usage of which includes domain names.
Also, anybody wishing to refute that non-LE third parties play an important part in fighting Internet abuse, is not in touch with what is happening on the Internet currently.
Derek
_______________________________________________ At-Large mailing list At-Large@atlarge-lists.icann.org https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/at-large
At-Large Official Site: http://atlarge.icann.org