U.S. FTC Issues Statement on Whois Databases

["Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

Via FTC.gov.

[snip]

The Federal Trade Commission today told a meeting of the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers that access to the Whois
databases is “critical to the agency’s consumer protection laws, to
other law enforcement agencies around the world, and to consumers.”
Whois databases are online information directories that contain contact
information about website operators. Access to the databases is in
question because one of ICANN’s advisory bodies recommended limiting
access to Whois data to “technical purposes only.”

Commissioner Jon Leibowitz told the group that FTC attorneys and
investigators have used the Whois databases for 10 years to conduct
investigations of Internet scams. “Whois databases often are one of the
first tools FTC investigators use to identify wrongdoers,” he said. In
one case, the agency alleged scammers were using drive-by downloads to
install spyware that barraged consumers with pop-up ads and caused some
computers to crash. “Using Whois data, the FTC found the defendants,
stopped their illegal conduct, and obtained a judgment for millions of
dollars in consumer redress. It is uncertain whether the FTC would have
been able to locate the defendants without the Whois data,” Leibowitz said.

[snip]

More:
http://ftc.gov/opa/2006/06/icann.htm

- ferg


--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg () netzero net or fergdawg () sbcglobal net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/


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