Another document that may be of value... or not :) DRAFT GAC PRINCIPLES REGARDING THE PURPOSE AND USE OF WHOIS DATA Presented by the Governmental Advisory Committee December 6, 2006 Preamble 1.1 The purpose of this document is to identify a set of general public policy principles related to the operation and management of the generic top level domain (gTLD) WHOIS service. 1.2These principles have been developed in consultation with privacy, law enforcement, consumer and intellectual property bodies within each GAC member government. Objective of this document 2.1 These principles are intended to guide the work within ICANN pertaining to the WHOIS service and to inform the ICANN Board of the consensus views of the GAC regarding the range of public policy uses of WHOIS data. Public Policy Aspects of WHOIS Data 3.1 The GAC believes that the WHOIS database serves many legitimate purposes, including: 1.Assisting national law enforcement agencies, both civil and criminal, in resolving cases that involve the use of the Internet (such as child pornography, violent crimes, wire fraud, cyber crime, consumer fraud, identity theft, phishing, and other violations of consumer privacy and data security); 2.Combating intellectual property infringement and theft through the identification of cybersquatters, trademark infringers, counterfeiters, and copyright pirates; 3.Supporting Internet network operators responsible for the operation, security, and stability of the Internet; 4.Protecting the rights of consumers by facilitating their identification of legitimate online businesses; and 5. Assisting businesses in investigating fraud, phishing and other violations of law affecting their business interests and the interests of their customers. 3.2 While the GAC recognizes the complexity posed by such a broad range of public policy uses of WHOIS data, the GAC believes that the policy development process regarding the definition, purpose and operation of gTLD WHOIS services needs to reflect the interests and concerns of this broad range of users of WHOIS data. Principles Applicable to WHOIS Data 4.1 The GAC believes that a fully functional WHOIS service should: 1.Satisfy the traditional and ongoing goal of ensuring the security and stability of the Internet; 2.Facilitate continued, timely and cross-border access to accurate WHOIS data for law enforcement, intellectual property rights protection, consumer protection, and compliance and regulatory purposes; 3.Provide the necessary level of data regarding domain name registrants and registrations to any user who seeks it, including, for example, civil and criminal law enforcement officials, online consumers, network operators, intellectual property rights holders, and registries and registrars; and 4.Consider national laws and global agreements associated with trade practices, consumer protection, intellectual property rights and copyright protection, and privacy protection. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Cheap talk? Check out Yahoo! Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates. http://voice.yahoo.com