ICANN - Respect Our Privacy

[Alexander Derby <al.derby@xxxxxxxxx>]

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, and many other small-time website operators, enroll in privacy
protection services because we do not have the resources for contact
departments dedicated to Internet-related communications. Most use our
personal names and addresses, which if forced to be exposed will put us
and our families at risk of increased spam, harassment, or even physical
danger.

Forcing the exposition of private contact information will only "keep
honest folk honest," as those operating the nefarious sites your rules
are attempting to combat will simply provide false information. The
proposition of exposing personal information is an overly blunt
"solution" to a symptom, not the root cause, of the operation of these
sites. Please focus your efforts on addressing the real reason these
sites exist, or why court orders are not currently being followed,
instead of sweeping up innocent website operators (by far the majority)
in such a disproportionate response.

Private information should be kept private. Thank you for your time and
consideration.

-- 
[ AWD ]