ICANN - David Hare Says Respect Our Privacy

[Dave Cochran <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear ICANN –

Regarding 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. 

I have one relative who is in hiding from a stalker who has threatened her 
before, and another who is a transgender teen; both wish to pursue creative 
careers online, and would be seriously endangered if creating domains for 
themselves required them to make private information available via WHOIS. It is 
unfair to make vulnerable people chose between their safety and their careers. 
Moreover, even if they decide to forgo having their own domains - I already 
have domains, and there is a real chance, if I cannot use WHOIS privacy, that 
they could be put at risk because of my information being available.

Private information should be kept private. Thank you. 

Your sincerely,
Dave Cochran  

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Dave Cochran
Robot Squid Publications <http://robotsquid.net/>
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