On Sat, Jun 25, 2016 at 07:47:12AM -0400, Nathalie Coupet wrote:
Could you please explain how registrants and users might access such a distributed database (technically) to modify/correct their data or just to view it?
This isn't a "might" case: it's a "how do they do it now?" case. I wasn't describing a possible future; I was describing how stuff actually works. Today, if you register a domain name in almost all TLDs (and certainly in any contracted gTLD), you go through a registrar. The registrar has data about whoever registers the name (if you register through a proxy service, in effect they're the registrant, and you have a separate contract with them that permits you continued control over the name they've registered). In particular, all the billing and other contact data is collected by the registrar. To update anything, you go to the registrar, so that's how a registrant updates the data. In "thin" registries, the contact data never leaves the registrar. You can actually see how this works in whois today in com: ---%<---cut here--- ajs$ whois anvilwalrusden.com Whois Server Version 2.0 Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net for detailed information. Domain Name: ANVILWALRUSDEN.COM Registrar: TUCOWS DOMAINS INC. Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 69 Whois Server: whois.tucows.com Referral URL: http://www.tucowsdomains.com Name Server: NS1.SYSTEMDNS.COM Name Server: NS2.SYSTEMDNS.COM Name Server: NS3.SYSTEMDNS.COM Status: ok https://icann.org/epp#ok Updated Date: 09-jun-2016 Creation Date: 30-jun-2010 Expiration Date: 30-jun-2017
Last update of whois database: Sat, 25 Jun 2016 13:20:04 GMT <<<
[now comes a bunch of legal disclaimer] [up to this point, the answer came from Verisign's whois server. Notice the "referral URL". It tells the client, "Query this other URL too."] Domain Name: ANVILWALRUSDEN.COM Domain ID: 1604487787_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.tucows.com Registrar URL: http://tucowsdomains.com Updated Date: 2016-06-09T03:51:47Z Creation Date: 2010-06-30T19:23:14Z Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2017-06-30T19:23:14Z Sponsoring Registrar: TUCOWS, INC. Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 69 Registrar Abuse Contact Email: domainabuse@tucows.com Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4165350123 Reseller: 2228447 Ontario Inc. Domain Status: ok https://icann.org/epp#ok Registry Registrant ID: Registrant Name: Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0124230102 Registrant Organization: Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0124230102 Registrant Street: 96 Mowat Ave Registrant City: Toronto Registrant State/Province: ON Registrant Postal Code: M6K 3M1 Registrant Country: CA Registrant Phone: +1.4165385457 Registrant Phone Ext: Registrant Fax: Registrant Fax Ext: Registrant Email: anvilwalrusden.com@contactprivacy.com Registry Admin ID: Admin Name: Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0124230102 Admin Organization: Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0124230102 Admin Street: 96 Mowat Ave Admin City: Toronto Admin State/Province: ON Admin Postal Code: M6K 3M1 Admin Country: CA Admin Phone: +1.4165385457 Admin Phone Ext: Admin Fax: Admin Fax Ext: Admin Email: anvilwalrusden.com@contactprivacy.com Registry Tech ID: Tech Name: Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0124230102 Tech Organization: Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0124230102 Tech Street: 96 Mowat Ave Tech City: Toronto Tech State/Province: ON Tech Postal Code: M6K 3M1 Tech Country: CA Tech Phone: +1.4165385457 Tech Phone Ext: Tech Fax: Tech Fax Ext: Tech Email: anvilwalrusden.com@contactprivacy.com Name Server: NS1.SYSTEMDNS.COM Name Server: NS2.SYSTEMDNS.COM Name Server: NS3.SYSTEMDNS.COM DNSSEC: unsigned URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
Last update of WHOIS database: 2016-06-09T03:51:47Z <<<
"For more information on Whois status codes, please visit https://icann.org/epp" Registration Service Provider: 2228447 Ontario Inc., ajs@crankycanuck.ca +1.4167311261 This company may be contacted for domain login/passwords, DNS/Nameserver changes, and general domain support questions. This domain's privacy is protected by contactprivacy.com. To reach the domain contacts, please go to http://www.contactprivacy.com and follow the instructions. [and more legal disclaimer] [This part, as you ca see, is from Tucows, where I have a reseller account.] ---cut here--->%--- The problem with whois (the protocol) for this are manifold, and I don't think I need to rehearse them here. But none of that matters, because RDAP has addressed all of those problems, so the technical barriers are no longer in the way. So the answer to your question is that registrars today can look at this data via whois today, and will be able to use RDAP when it is implemented. And if this WG comes up with a sensible privacy policy, then the registrant ought to be able to able to view data that others can't. Best regards, A -- Andrew Sullivan ajs@anvilwalrusden.com