"We therefore need to model our approach on the worst possible actors, not the best."
If this is the prism through which we view the "actors" involved here, that would need to apply to all the actors -- so we need to view registrants as a motley crew of phishers, malware providers, cybersquatters, counterfeiters, child porn purveyors, illegal online pharmacies, and other assorted malfeasors. That would make WHOIS/RDS the rough equivalent of a sex offender registry, and our requirements regarding availability, contactability, accuracy, validation, etc., would need to be ratcheted up very significantly. We may even need a system to track registrants, if we follow this thinking to its logical conclusion.
As fascinating as this dystopian worldview might be, I reject the idea that this is an appropriate approach to our work.
Greg Shatan