An important issue has been raised by the so called "Privacy" supporters on the Internet regarding
the availability of "Who Is " records in the public domain. "Who Is" record provides the information
about the registrant of a domain name and his contact address. It is alleged that this information is used by marketers to
violate privacy.
WIPO has rightly come strongly in favour of keeping the information public since this is the
key information availbale to any body who is trying to identify a "Cyber Squatter".
Cyber Squatting has been engaging the attention of the Cyber Community
for quite some time and a specific law has also been passed in US to protect the rights of
Trade Mark owners. Even though in many cases the Trade mark owners have gone overboard
in claiming rights on domain names, genuine harassment by Cybersquatters is also a fact of life which
cannot go unchecked.
In order to establish contact with the registrants of domain names and
negotiate for either the mutual rights or for trading of the names, it is essential to have the
inforamtion of domain names in the public domain. There is already a feeling in some regulators's
mind (In India in particular) that the domain name registrations are to be re-registered with a
Government authority.
Some observers feel that the Convegence Bill under discussion in India which is
in draft form, will indirectly bring about such a requirement if interpreted strictly. This could
lead to an obnoxious "licensing" system which could cripple the Internet. If the present status
of "Free availability of Who Is information" is disturbed, the regulators will be given a
handle to further their "licensing" urge.
The Privacy advocates should therefore realise that they are going too far in
demanding a cover on Who Is information. The "Anti Spamming Laws" are a sufficient deterrent
for any large misuse of public data. As WIPO has suggests, the concern is the "Accuracy" of the Who Is data
particularly with the multiplicity of registrars.
The community should focus on how the different registries are integrated
in the real time to avoid problems of simultaneous genuine registrations which may often end up in
litigation between the registrant and the Registrar.
Naavi
April 25, 2001
Report in
newsbytes.com
Do readers have a views on this? or suggestions?. If so, Your views can be sent
here
