Removal of Searchable Whois Service from .MEET Registry Agreement

[Crystal Ondo <crystal@donuts.email>]

It is our understanding that Charleston Road Registry Inc.’s request to remove 
Searchable WHOIS from its .MEET Registry Agreement will have no impact on the 
registry's operation of a standard public WHOIS service as required by 
Specification 4 of the Registry Agreement.  With that in mind, Donuts supports 
this request.  

The New gTLD Applicant Guidebook does not require registries to operate a 
Searchable WHOIS service, nor does any consensus policy exist regarding the 
operation of a Searchable WHOIS service.  It would be inequitable and 
inconsistent with existing policies and requirements for ICANN to prevent 
subsequent removal of this service by way of the RSEP process.  One of the 
purposes of the RSEP is to allow evaluation of the security, stability, or 
competition implications of new registry services.  Certainly, several 
registries from the 2012 New gTLD Application Round offer non-searchable WHOIS 
services, with no evidence of accompanying issues or community concerns.  It is 
highly unlikely that the operation of a comparable, non-searchable WHOIS 
service would raise new issues that would justify ICANN’s non-approval of an 
RSEP request.  

 <http://www.donuts.domains/>Crystal Ondo, Director, Legal Affairs and 
Compliance
Donuts Inc. <http://www.donuts.domains/>
10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 350, Bellevue, Washington, 98004, U.S.A. | 
Telephone: 425.919.3563 | Fax: 424.254.8537
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