Whois survey on data mining

Thu Feb 12 23:01:08 CET 2004

Dear NCUC members:

This survey questionnaire is supposed to be sent to 
any users of Whois data who are not spammers. 
Each constituency is asked to send this survey to anyone
they know of who uses Whois data, preferably via
personal contact (not email lists). Some researchers
on Internet issues may use Whois data in the way
envisioned by this study.

The survey questionnaire is on the link below:
http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/questionnaire-tf1-06feb04.shtml 

Completed surveys should be sent to:
<mailto:tf1-survey at gnso.icann.org>

Here is also the plain text version:

From: ICANN Whois Taskforce 1

Re: Your need for Whois information

To: [  ]

Dear [  ],

Because Whois data accessibility used in your business or 
activities could be affected by our recommendations, we 
encourage you to take a few moments to answer the 
questions below. Your input will be greatly appreciated. Your
submissions will not be shared beyond the members of this 
task force.

This letter comes to you on behalf of the Generic Names 
Supporting Organization (GNSO) of the Internet Corporation 
for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN is an 
internationally organized, non-profit corporation that has 
responsibility for Internet Protocol address space
allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic and country 
code Top-Level Domain name system management, and root 
server system management functions.  The GNSOs role is to 
help to promote the development of gTLD domain name-related 
policy and encourage diverse and international
participation in the technical management of the Internet.

We are members of a Task Force that has been appointed by 
the GNSO to examine the uses of Whois information obtained 
through two very specific sources.  Under contractual agreements 
with ICANN, top-level domain registries and registrars are required 
to provide access to Whois data through Port 43as well as through 
the Web.

To help the task force develop policy recommendations about 
access to Whois data, we are gathering information from 
organizations such as yours that we understand are using or 
have used Whois information for various purposes.

Please note that all questions pertain only to whois information 
which is the name, email, street address, phone and other 
information about the registrant, and the other contacts, of the 
domain name), and not to zone file information which is the list of 
all domain names (with each names name servers) registered at 
the registry.

In addition, for each question except for the last one, please feel 
free to select more than one answer to each question, if more than 
one answer is applicable.

In order to ensure that your responses are considered by the 
Task Force, please respond to this questionnaire by no later than
February 16, 2004.  Please send your reply to
<mailto:tf1-survey at gnso.icann.org>

Questions

1) ICANN-Accredited Registrars and gTLD Registries make 
Whois information available through multiple query-based 
mechanisms, including web-based interfaces and a special 
network protocol informally referred to as port-43
Whois.  How do you obtain the Whois information?

a.    By submitting queries to a Web-based interface

b.    By submitting queries using special tools, e.g., using
port-43-based interface

c.    By entering into bulk access licenses with ICANN- 
accredited registrars.

d.    By obtaining WHOIS data in bulk from an entity that is not an
ICANN-Accredited Registrar.  Please specify the type of entity.

e. Other (Please explain)

f.  I don't know.

2) Are you getting this information directly from an ICANN-Accredited
Registrar [Provide a link] or gTLD Registry [Provide a link]?

a.            Yes

b.            No.

c.            I don't know

3) Do you routinely disseminate the obtained Whois information to 
third parties (Yes/No/dont know)?

3.1)            If yes, do you disseminate:

a. individual WHOIS records

b. WHOIS records in bulk

c. Other (please explain)

d. Dont know

3.2)      If you answered yes to Number 3, how do you disseminate 
the obtained Whois information?

a)      I operate a WHOIS proxy that is available through port 43

b)      I operate a WHOIS proxy that is accessible through a web 
interface

c)      Other (please specify)

d)      Dont know

4) Approximately how many Whois queries/lookups do you perform 
on average per day?

a.            Less than 10
b.            10-99
c.            100-1000
d.            More than 1000
e.            It varies too much to select the other options: some days it
is many (say, over 1000) and some days none
f.              I don't know

5) Do you store the Whois information?

a.            Not at all
b.            I cache queries for a short period (less than a week)
c.            I store it for longer periods such as more than a week

6) Please indicate the general purposes of your use of Whois 
data (you may select more than one item - choose as many that apply)

a. For law enforcement by public authorities
b. For intellectual property enforcement by trademark/copyright
holders or their designated representatives
c. For development of commercial products or services that
facilitate law enforcement by public authorities.
d. For development of commercial products or services that
facilitate intellectual property enforcement
e. For marketing purposes
f. For inter-registrar domain name transfers
g. To facilitate spam prevention
h. To operate a public information service
i.  Statistical research on domain name registrations, 
Internet users, etc.
j. For resale of Whois information as an information service
k. Other: ___________________________________

7) Please provide a brief explanation of your use, if any, of 
query-based Whois services.

8) If you currently use Port 43 to access WHOIS information, 
and such access were not available in the future, what other 
source(s) would you use for such data?

9) If you were to use such alternate source(s), what do you 
believe will be the effect on you or your organization?

10) What is the most important factor driving your access to 
Whois data as you currently use it?  (Although each answer
may be applicable to you or your organization, please select 
only the most relevant answer below):

   a) the cost
   b) the convenience or need for immediate online access 
to contact information
   c)  other

Please explain your answer.

Please take a moment to tell us a little about your organization 
to assist us in understanding and organizing the results.

In order to ensure that your responses are considered by the 
Task Force, please respond to this questionnaire by no later than February 16, 2004.  
Please send your reply to tf1-survey at gnso.icann.org: 

Thank you very much for your time and participation.  For our complete
description of  work, please see
<http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/tor.shtml>http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/tor.shtml.