Further to our discussion this morning about the openness (or otherwise) of WHOIS, here is the quote I was referring to from the SSAC document 003, from 2003:
In order for Whois data to be readily available it must be both accessible and usable by
automatic tools. To be accessible the Whois protocol must be updated to support the
recent shift in the architecture to separate the functions of the registry and the registrar.
This shift has made it impractical to support searching and frequently makes it difficult to
find Whois services. To be usable the data returned by Whois services must in be a
common format.
However, being accessible and usable must also protect a registrant's privacy. Many
countries require that personal information is protected but in addition registrants may
wish to discourage the unintended, undesirable, and otherwise unwanted uses of their
Whois data. In particular, it is widely believed that Whois data is a source of email
addresses for the distribution of spam. Methods must be developed to discourage the
harvesting or mining of Whois information.

I interpret this as support for the notion that there have been reservations from parties other than civil
society, with respect to the concept of all WHOIS data being freely available, from the early days of ICANN.
Stephanie Perrin