Comment to Preliminary task force report on the purpose of Whois and of the Whois contacts - 18 January, 2006

["Vayra, Fabricio" <Fabricio.Vayra@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Comments submitted by Fabricio Vayra on behalf of Home Box Office, Inc., New
Line Cinema Corporation, Time Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc.

Preliminary Task Force Report on the Purpose of WHOIS and of the WHOIS
Contacts 
18 January, 2006

 

Time Warner Inc. is a leading global media and entertainment company with
businesses in various industries, including filmed entertainment (e.g., New
Line Cinema Corporation), television networks (e.g., Home Box Office, Inc.),
cable systems (i.e., Time Warner Cable Inc.) and publishing (i.e., Time
Inc.).  Home Box Office, Inc. is America's most successful premium
television network.   New Line Cinema Corporation is the most successful
independent film company in the world.  Time Inc. is the leading magazine
publisher in the world with over 150 titles.  Time Warner Cable Inc. is a
pioneer in the cable industry with the most advanced cable operations in the
U.S.  Having many occasions to rely on the WHOIS databases, we welcome this
opportunity to comment on ICANN's "Preliminary Task Force Report on the
purpose of WHOIS and of the WHOIS Contacts."  We thank the Task Force for
their time and effort in developing this Report.

 

Our companies (and Time Warner Inc. on behalf of our companies) use the
WHOIS databases regularly.  We conduct investigations into matters involving
online trademark and copyright infringements.  In order to properly conduct
these investigations, the WHOIS databases are used as a primary resource.
Without the WHOIS databases to reference, there would be no starting point
when attempting to protect intellectual property assets on the Internet.
This would be an obstacle to the viability of legitimate online content and
services.  Moreover, the WHOIS databases are often used in day-to-day
business.  For example, the WHOIS databases are used for the routine tasks
associated with properly managing domain name portfolios and for initiating
and completing commercial transactions involving domain names. Consequently,
experience shows that the function of WHOIS has historically not been only a
technical one.  

 

Not only does the private sector find the WHOIS databases invaluable, the
various government agencies working on Internet abuse matters do as well.
For example, the FTC must use the WHOIS databases to investigate matters
relating to SPAM complaints.  Other government agencies also rely on the
WHOIS databases to investigate criminal phishing/scam schemes run through
the Internet.  With such criminal activities on the rise, the WHOIS
databases take on more importance.  Therefore, both corporations and
consumers benefit from the government's use of WHOIS in this fashion.  

 

In summary, the WHOIS databases are the foundation for most Internet related
investigations and transactions. Therefore, out of the alternative
formulations of the purpose of WHOIS, we support "Formulation 2" (i.e., "The
purpose of the gTLD WHOIS service is to provide information sufficient to
contact a responsible party or parties for a particular gTLD domain name who
can resolve, or reliably pass on data to a party who can resolve, technical,
legal or other issues related to the registration or use of a domain
name.").  We support "Formulation 2" not only because we believe that it is
most consistent with the long-established history of WHOIS, but also because
the WHOIS databases proposed in "Formulation 2" maintain a level of
accountability on the Internet that is vital for its stability.  As shown in
the examples above, the WHOIS databases provide the resources necessary to
assist corporations, government agencies, non-profit groups and (most
importantly) individual Internet users and their families with the tools
necessary to conduct business and protect their rights on the Internet.  

 

The proposed "Formulation 1," because of its limited focus on technical
issues, is too narrow in scope to provide WHOIS databases that would act as
meaningful tools to the Internet community as a whole.  Such a formulation
would not serve the interests of internet users, or those that rely on the
WHOIS database to establish and develop legitimate online services.  

 

Contact person: Fabricio Vayra, Counsel - Intellectual Property, Time Warner
Inc., One Time Warner Center, 14th Floor, New York, NY, 10019. Phone: 212
484 8748. E-mail: Fabricio.Vayra@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

 


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