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[nc-whois] Some thoughts again


CONSIDERATIONS FOR WHOIS

The original whois database was setup according to rfc's as most
procedures and protocols.

The outset (NIC and MIL still one entity was simple, when InternNIC was
created the whois database would fill automatically the tech and admin
contact in based on ARIN data.

This last part is/was very important since it shows the intent of those
addresses.

It takes the motivation for the availability of these addresses (email)
to a level where it should be, the contacts are needed for problems with
administration and technical matters.

Over course the admin contact was made a really administrative contact,
whereas for the registry this should be the registrar, and for the
registrar the registrant.
The technical contact was meant to be someone with access to DNS or
other problems.

Over time the whois database was used for much more then it was intended
for, mining not being the last usage.

The IP Constituency lobby was successful in the USA to the extend that a
very large part of their legal support could count on the usage of whois
and later added to that the UDRP

Current whois usage has been "polled" via a questionnaire as used
currently by the whois task force as a lead for recommendations to the
DNSO NC and indirectly the ICANN.

In order to not get lost in the forest of technicalities it might be
important to get back to the RFC that lay ground for the whois and or
the build-up of the data-base.

So what happens?

The registrant registers a domain name; he does this world-wide through
a "registrar" who in turn registers the domain at the "registry".

The registry records the data given to her by the registrant and charges
the registrar the agreed upon fee.
The registrar charges the registrant the agreed upon fee and enters the
domain in her database which in part or all is searchable through tcp
port 43 or via a web-interface to that port.

Search instruction:

One thing most dbases have in common, at least it looks that way, is the
search string is in compliance with the RFC.

Whether it is for a G-TLD or a cc-TLD they adhere to the RFC.

Whois <domain>@<registrar-whois-server> will give "a" outcome.


There is a "common" thing in al those searches, therefore let's show
some outputs (attachment 1)

Now we see a few common denominators:

Name of the domain
DNS
Owner

In some cases we have:

Registrar
Contact
Tech contact

All other fields vary from whois to whois.

Now having seen that we need to bare in mind a few other thoughts as for
instance what is our need build-up.

Why do we need the information in the whois?

As seen by the outcome from our questionnaire a lot of reasons are
given, changing by constituency and often represented by those who shout
the hardest.

Talking with .DE today (and for that matter, talking to most of the EEC
states will give almost identical results) made it clear that they are
ruled by a few simple rules, having learned from experience:

1. The registrar is responsible for the correctness of the data, if the
data is questioned, wrong or whatever they have the right to delete or
move the domain to another party.

2. Urgent matters are dealt with on a per case base.

3.IP matters are not considered to be that urgent, porn on ATT.de would
and could be, but it would be a matter of ATT contacting the contact
person given to her by DENIC and or the registrar or perhaps even the
police.
Shutting down the site is not a matter of domain-policy but of ISP
policy.

4. To solve matters that should be solved in court, you will have to go
to court in Germany and not use the registry to take shortcuts.

As a matter of fact this is the case (almost identical) in the UK and in
the Netherlands, Belgium and no doubt many other EEC countries.

Since the WHOIS was never meant to be a source for finding people,
whether they are perpetrators (alleged) or simple users. It was meant to
identify the registrar, the registrant (by name if at all or by NUMBER)
and the DNS servers for that domain, it was considered "handy" to have a
tech and admin contact, but since in the original setup this was thought
to be filled automatically from the RIPE/ARIN databases these were meant
to be the Tech contact for the Name-Servers and admin contact for the
IP-Block.
This strikes a lot more logic, after all, they are the ones that can do
something in a case of internet related problems, like DDoS or (what was
more thought of in the early days) server-failure.
Likewise thinking was adapted in DNS (see bind man-pages) or sendmail
(postmaster/hostmaster addresses always to be server related etc)

Now we have to wonder whether we need to fix something, or at least
advice to fix it, which is not really broken, or that we advice on a
more workable thing for the future.

The latter part I can live with, the first comes to close to something I
would not like to think aloud.

Now what would be sensible to all those millions of users and what shows
our questionnaire?

Cross tld access, 
Is a domain taken?
Who owns the domain?
What are the name servers?

Yes I know the IP community as well as the Law enforcement community
would like more access, but that will be utopia for the most part and
that Utopia part is growing, so I suggest they strike other deals with
f.i. the international registries.

ISP and registrars need to start wondering ( I am sure some already do)
where they will stand in a court of law in Europe if push comes to shove
and they are subpoenaed under privacy acts there.

Why not try and start to think in the way of a cross registry whois, I
am sure it can be written quite easily and also could be a part of the
root-server setup.

It would certainly service the overwhelming majority of users, and at
least given IP and LE a head start as to who is the one behi
[root@pingu Etc]# whois grid9.co.uk@whois.nic.uk
[whois.nic.uk]

   Domain Name: GRID9.CO.UK

   Registered For: Mirage Networking Ltd

   Domain Registered By: MIRAGE

   Registered on 04-Mar-1998.

   Domain servers listed in order:

   DIAMOND.WEBSTAR.CO.UK             195.138.224.2
   RUBY.WEBSTAR.CO.UK                195.138.224.3

   WHOIS database last updated at 23:05:03 23-Sep-2002

The NIC.UK Registration Host contains information ONLY for
registrations in the co.uk, org.uk, net.uk, ltd.uk, plc.uk,
sch.uk and me.uk second-level domains.

                * * *   N O T I C E   * * *

        From 1 October 2002 the format and content
        of Nominet's WHOIS result message will
        change.  For further information please see:
        http://www.nominet.org.uk/ref/whois3.html



[root@pingu Etc]# whois mustang.de@whois.nic.de
[whois.nic.de]
% Copyright (c)2002 by DENIC
%
% Restricted rights.
%
%
% Except for agreed Internet operational purposes, no part of this
% information may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
% transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
% recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the DENIC
% on behalf of itself and/or the copyright holders. Any use of this
% material to target advertising or similar activities are explicitly
% forbidden and will be prosecuted. The DENIC requests to be notified
% of any such activities or suspicions thereof.

domain:      mustang.de
descr:       Mustang Bekleidungswerke GmbH & Co
descr:       Austrasse 10
descr:       D-71653 Kuenzelsau
descr:       Germany
nserver:     spider.webart.de
nserver:     ns.space.net
nserver:     ns3.dns.space.net
nserver:     ns4.dns.space.net
status:      connect
changed:     20010417 180519
source:      DENIC

[admin-c]
Type:         PERSON
Name:         Klaus Megerle
Address:      Mustang Bekleidungswerke GmbH
Address:      Austrasse 10
City:         Kuenzelsau
Pcode:        74653
Country:      DE
Changed:      20001208 164920
Source:       DENIC

[tech-c][zone-c]
Type:         PERSON
Name:         Peter Schaefer
Address:      WebArt Internet Services GmbH und Co. KG
Address:      Moenchhaldenstr. 28
City:         Stuttgart
Pcode:        70191
Country:      DE
Phone:        +49 711 25011 11
Fax:          +49 771 25011 22
Email:        schaefer@webart.net
Changed:      20000322 153627
Source:       DENIC


[root@pingu Etc]# whois able-towers.com
[whois.crsnic.net]

Whois Server Version 1.3

Domain names in the .com, .net, and .org domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

   Domain Name: ABLE-TOWERS.COM
   Registrar: TUCOWS, INC.
   Whois Server: whois.opensrs.net
   Referral URL: http://www.opensrs.org
   Name Server: BABBAGE.GRID9.NET
   Name Server: UK1.ABLE-TOWERS.COM
   Name Server: US1.ABLE-TOWERS.COM
   Updated Date: 13-sep-2002


>>> Last update of whois database: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 17:01:17 EDT <<<

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .ORG, .EDU domains and
Registrars.


[whois.opensrs.net]
Registrant:
 able towers
 Scottish Provident House
 76-80 College Rd
 Harrow, Mdx HA1 1BX
 UK

 Domain Name: ABLE-TOWERS.COM

 Administrative Contact:
    wisman, abel  able@able-towers.com
    rt 2 box 997
    Locust Grove, OK 74352
    US
    918-629-9224

 Technical Contact:
    wisman, abel  able@able-towers.com
    rt 2 box 997
    Locust Grove, OK 74352
    US
    918-629-9224



 Registration Service Provider:
    Url Dot Org Ltd, admin@url.org
    +44 1895 635413
    http://www.url.org


 Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
 Record last updated on 13-Sep-2002.
 Record expires on 11-Sep-2003.
 Record Created on 11-Sep-1999.

 Domain servers in listed order:
    UK1.ABLE-TOWERS.COM   212.46.64.10
    BABBAGE.GRID9.NET   212.46.67.2
    US1.ABLE-TOWERS.COM   38.196.148.130


The Data in the Tucows Registrar WHOIS database is provided to you by Tucows
for information purposes only, and may be used to assist you in obtaining
information about or related to a domain name's registration record.

Tucows makes this information available "as is," and does not guarantee its
accuracy.

By submitting a WHOIS query, you agree that you will use this data only for
lawful purposes and that, under no circumstances will you use this data to:
a) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission by e-mail,
telephone, or facsimile of mass, unsolicited, commercial advertising or
solicitations to entities other than the data recipient's own existing
customers; or (b) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes that
send queries or data to the systems of any Registry Operator or
ICANN-Accredited registrar, except as reasonably necessary to register
domain names or modify existing registrations.

The compilation, repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is
expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Tucows.

Tucows reserves the right to terminate your access to the Tucows WHOIS
database in its sole discretion, including without limitation, for excessive
querying of the WHOIS database or for failure to otherwise abide by this
policy.

Tucows reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.

By submitting this query, you agree to abide by these terms.

NOTE: THE WHOIS DATABASE IS A CONTACT DATABASE ONLY.  LACK OF A DOMAIN
RECORD DOES NOT SIGNIFY DOMAIN AVAILABILITY.


[root@pingu Etc]# whois able-nl.nl@whois.nic.nl
[whois.nic.nl]

   Rights restricted by copyright. See
   http://www.domain-registry.nl/whois.php

   Domain name:
      able-nl.nl (first domain)

   Organisation:
      Able Consultancy Holding B.V.
      St. Jozefstraat 42
      6245 LN EIJSDEN

   Administrative Contact:
      A. Wisman
      Phone: +31 77 3200451
      E-mail: postmaster@able-nl.nl

   Technical Contact:
      Domein Beheer Planet Internet
      Phone: +31 33 4540400
      E-mail: domein-ops@PLANET.NL

   Registrar:
      Planet Media Group / Planet Internet
      Printerweg 14  -32
      3821 AD AMERSFOORT

   Domain Nameservers:
      ns3.wxs.nl                    195.121.1.38
      ns5.wxs.nl                    192.215.32.19

   Domain first registered: 05-02-1998
   Record last updated: 06-02-1998
   Record maintained by: NL Domain Registry


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