Save domain name privacy

[Coral Sheldon-Hess <coral@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear ICANN members,

Anonymized WHOIS is a very important first step in the fight to protect
free speech online, especially for marginalized voices. GamerGate and other
online hate groups target people people whom they disagree with and whose
addresses they are able to find. This article is a good primer on the kind
of damage they do:
http://feministing.com/2015/01/16/things-have-happened-in-the-past-week-on-doxing-swatting-and-8chan/

Because “commercial” has been construed so broadly, in the past, preventing
registrars from anonymizing WHOIS data for commercial sites would put the
owners of many valuable and informative websites at risk. As a vocal
feminist and disability rights advocate, the risk I face in speaking up
online is already non-zero. If this rule changes goes through, my risk will
increase exponentially. (Of the five domains I have registered right now,
at least two could theoretically be deemed commercial, because I offer
consulting services and sell art.)

While I understand that the entertainment industry wants to increase
individual liability for unauthorized distribution of their property, the
threat to domain owners and the chilling effect this would have on free
speech cannot be overlooked.

Thank you for considering my words and the words of so many other people
who rely on this privacy protection!

Sincerely,

Coral Sheldon-Hess