+1 -----Original Message-----

From: "John R. Levine" <johnl@iecc.com> Sent: Jan 31, 2011 11:37 AM To: At-Large Worldwide <at-large@atlarge-lists.icann.org> Subject: Re: [At-Large] Impressions from the Whois-Review

...

That's bullshit. Whois makes it easy. But it's not necessary.

It's unlikely to reflect well on the ALAC or yourself to reject Neil's expertise simply because it contradicts your personal preferences.

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.

Arguments about what's "necessary" are silly. The DNS isn't "necessary". Telephones aren't "necessary". E-mail isn't "necessary". We could just grab big sticks and run off and hunt the bad guys.

I really wish that the ALAC would get over the 1990s idea that somehow it represents the tiny handful of individual vanity domain registrants (such as me) in preference to the vast majority of users who have never registered a domain and never will.

Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. http://jl.ly _______________________________________________ At-Large mailing list At-Large@atlarge-lists.icann.org https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/at-large

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