ICANN - Clarence York Says Respect Our Privacy

[Clarence York <clarence.york@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.
​
One of the major reasons that I use WHOIS privacy services is because I
don't want to be inundated with spam when my address is disclosed on the
Internet. I'm retired, and maintain 2 domain names and web sites for two
small businesses: a friend that owns a trekking company in Nepal; and a
friend that has a small antique shop in eastern Virginia. I do this gratis,
out of friendship. 6-7 years ago, I failed to secure WHOIS privacy
services, and within 3 months I was receiving 50-70 pieces of spam every
day. ​I
realized my mistake and got WHOIS privacy services. It took about two years
for the resulting spam to return to normal (5-6/day).

Do you understand? Hopefully so. Changes like this have serious unintended
consequences.


Private information should be kept private. Thank you.

​with regards,
Clarence York​