Re: Re[2]: [wg-c] Straw Vote

["A.M. Rutkowski" <amr@netmagic.com>]

Hi Rita,

>Great!  My understanding is that there are people on this list arguing 
>against a universal whois.  I also understand that there have been claims 
>of proprietary interest in the whois information by NSI, which claims may 
>interfere with creating/accessing a universal whois.  Am I wrong?

"Whois" has become a generic term for a client-server
database for DNS zones.  No one has any objections to
the "client" side of that service. :-)

The issue on the server side is whether all or some subset
of the 19 million some DNS zones are obligated to create
an open, accessible whois server, and what intellectual
property rights are associated with that information if
it is made available.

Presently, only about 200 of those 19 million zones have
open, accessible whois servers.  Most of them assert
copyright ownership and significantly restrict use of
the data.  One - the IE domain operator - cites EU privacy
law and will make no information available.

I notice that Arent Fox does not provide a whois server
for ARENTFOX.COM.

There are significant legal issues concerning the basis
on which the provider of DNS services on private networks
that constitute the Internet would be compelled to provide
publicly accessible databases free from intellectual property
claims and subject to regulation.  It's not apparent that
these would be sustainable under most legal systems.

Hope this helps.


--tony