ICANN Whois Privacy

[Tom White <thomas.henry.white@xxxxxxxxx>]

I understand that ICANN is considering forcing many domain registrants to
publish their identity and contact information rather than allowing them to
appoint a proxy agent.  While I understand the need to be able to reach
someone about legitimate legal concerns, this is a poor idea.

There are probably hundreds of thousands of small businesses online run by
individuals out of their home; some significant number of these people have
no doubt been the *victims of domestic violence* and should not be forced
to disclose their current address to the world at large.

Others may be police officers, corrections officers, judges, former
government officials, or others whose lives or families will be at risk if
their information is disclosed.

While every domain should need to provide contact information for a proxy
who will respond to subpoenas for the identity, address, and phone number
of the domain registrant, to require domain owners to preemptively share
this information will result in serious risk to the safety of many around
the world.

It may also have a chilling effect on speech.  While every intelligent
person knows today that the internet is not anonymous, the veil of partial
anonymity allows people to more freely discuss political, social,
professional, and business issues in a legal way with much less risk of
harm to their career or social standing.

Some registrants use their domains for purposes of commenting on such
issues, either solely for this reason or in mixed-use on a domain of theirs
with commercial material.

They are still subject to the rule of law and cannot defame, illegally
spam, violate consumer protection statutes, commit fraud, or otherwise
violate the criminal or civil law without consequence.  But a subpoena or
other legal document bearing the identity and purpose of the requestor
should be necessary to obtain their private contact information.

For reasons of administrability of law, it may be appropriate to publicly
list the federal and state jurisdictions in which the registrant is
located.  However, further disclosure presents potentially serious risks to
safety and free speech and should not be required.

Kind Regards,

Tom White

-- 

Tom White
Attorney-At-Law
Seattle, Washington