ICANN - Philip Parshley Says Respect Our Privacy

[Philip <parshley@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

ICANN:

In regards to the proposed rules governing companies that provide WHOIS 
privacy services (as set forth in the Privacy and Policy Services 
Accreditation Issues Policy document), I urge you to respect internet 
users' rights to privacy and due process.
Everyone deserves the right to privacy. No one’s personal information 
should be revealed without a court order, regardless of whether the 
request comes from a private individual or law enforcement agency. If a 
party can demonstrate to a court that they have a legitimate need to 
access the private WHOIS registration data for a specific domain,
they can get it. There is no need or legitimate rationale to make all 
the existing private WHOIS information widely available.
Private information should be kept private by default, and there should 
be a court arbiter between someone wanting access to that private data, 
and the owner of that private data.
Thank you.