Important WHOIS decision in Australia

[Milton Mueller]

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

ASIC Fails To Get Full Access To Whois Data
Mandy Bryan

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has failed in a bid to gain unfettered access to the Whois database of Australian website owners, in a policy review finalised yesterday. ASIC and other law enforcement agencies had argued during public consultation that they should be granted bulk access to the database. The consultation related to the annual review of policy surrounding the collection, use and disclosure of Whois data.

Australia's domain name regulator, auDA, ruled in its updated policy
yesterday that law enforcement agencies must request full data on a
case-by-case basis during official investigations.

"We do not believe that it is appropriate to compromise the integrity of the Whois database and privacy of registrants merely for the convenience of law enforcement officials," auDA's chief, Chris Dispain, said.