May 22, 2002
WHOIS Inaccuracies Hampering FTC 
By Jim Wagner 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) needs better WHOIS information to track down Internet scams, one of its top directors told the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Wednesday. 

But finding a solution is a conundrum registrars and registries won't be able to resolve for some time, if ever, said Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Director of Communications Mary Hewitt. 

WHOIS (define) is a database containing the contact information of every domain owner on the Internet (example here for www.internetnews.com). The information includes domain name owner, phone number and mailing address of the person in charge of the Web site. 

J. Howard Beales III, FTC bureau of consumer protection director, said correctly identifying domain owners through the WHOIS is the difference between stopping an illegal operation before too much damage is done and letting the scam artist off the hook. 

"It is hard to overstate the importance of accurate WHOIS data to our Internet investigations," he told House members. "In all of our investigations against Internet companies, one of the first tools FTC investigators use to identify wrongdoers is the WHOIS database. We cannot easily sue fraudsters if we cannot find them." 

Beales testimony underscores a weakness in the agency's understanding of what ails the WHOIS information process. He points to information privacy for domain owners on the database as a reason for WHOIS inaccuracies, when, in fact, it comes down to a matter of economics. 

More at: http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/1143131