Nominet, the .uk domain registry, has been running RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) for over a year in public beta. They're now moving to it out of beta and adding it to the IANA bootstrap which will mean that it'll be readily accessible by anyone using an RDAP client. RDAP is the new, technical protocol that replaces whois. As it's XML JSON based it's 100% machine … [Read more...] about Nominet Taking RDAP Out of Beta
whois
ICANN’s Government Group Wants to Slow Whois Work
Since ICANN woke up to the very large conflicts between its policies and contracts and privacy law there have been some groups that have been pushing for ICANN to find a swift resolution. One of the more vocal among them was the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), which is made up of representative of governments from around the world. Now, however, it's clear that … [Read more...] about ICANN’s Government Group Wants to Slow Whois Work
ICANN Asks European Data Protection Board if Universal Access Model Viable
ICANN has written to the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) to see if a "Universal Access Model" for domain name registration data is possible under GDPR. The letter, which was sent on Friday, also includes two other documents: Exploring a Unified Access Model for gTLD Registration DataTSG01: Technical Model for Access to NonPublic Registration Data In a blog post … [Read more...] about ICANN Asks European Data Protection Board if Universal Access Model Viable
Check the new “Whois” From Your Mobile
Whois is being deprecated in favour of a more modern technology. The new solution for handling domain name registration data is called RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) and it is designed for machines to read and handle. It's not meant for direct human consumption. While some web browsers might be able to display the RDAP output in a human readable format many can't … [Read more...] about Check the new “Whois” From Your Mobile
New Zealand’s ccTLD Taking on DomainTools in Court – Video
As I mentioned several months ago, the .nz ccTLD registry Domain Name Commission is taking legal action against several companies that have been harvesting whois data for years. They were granted a preliminary injunction and were in court in person a few days ago. You can watch the legal pleadings from both sides in the video below: Personally I find the arguments from … [Read more...] about New Zealand’s ccTLD Taking on DomainTools in Court – Video
US Government to ICANN – Move Quickly
David Redl has written to ICANN in relation to the ongoing work around whois and GDPR. The letter, which was shared with the GNSO Council last night, is a mixed bag. On the one hand it offers the carrot in relation to what's been done so far, but then there's the not so veiled threat, which isn't a revelation by any means, of "domestic legislation". Bottom line the … [Read more...] about US Government to ICANN – Move Quickly
APWG & M3AAWG Survey on Whois Challenges in InfoSec
The APWG and M3AAWG recently conducted a survey among their members and the broader infosec community to get an understanding of how WHOIS changes had impacted security investigators. The survey results come from just over 300 participants' responses. Both organisations have formally written to ICANN and are asking that ICANN make several fundamental changes to the … [Read more...] about APWG & M3AAWG Survey on Whois Challenges in InfoSec
ICANN vs EPAG: ICANN Seeks Appeal Plus Pushes for ECJ Referral
As I predicted ICANN is pursuing its case against EPAG. They're now not only appealing the case to a higher court in Germany, but are also trying to get the entire thing referred to the European Court of Justice. In an announcement late last night ICANN made it very clear what their intentions are. While they're pursuing the appeal in the higher court in the German region, … [Read more...] about ICANN vs EPAG: ICANN Seeks Appeal Plus Pushes for ECJ Referral
ICANN vs Epag / Tucows: German Court Rules Against ICANN
Last Friday ICANN took German registrar EPAG to court in Germany. German courts seem to be pretty fast, so instead of having to wait weeks or months to see how they'd rule, we've already got the answer. The German court in Bonn has ruled that EPAG (Tucows) is not obliged to collect extra contacts beyond the domain name registrant. The decision, naturally, is in German, … [Read more...] about ICANN vs Epag / Tucows: German Court Rules Against ICANN
ICANN vs EPAG / Tucows: Tucows Releases Statement on What They’re Doing and Why
As I noted over the weekend, ICANN has instigated legal action against Epag, an ICANN accredited registrar based in Germany that is part of the Tucows group. ICANN claims that the case is to "preserve WHOIS data", but Tucows asserts in their statement that the ICANN approach is flawed. It's not a frivolous statement, but one they've backed with fairly detailed rationale - … [Read more...] about ICANN vs EPAG / Tucows: Tucows Releases Statement on What They’re Doing and Why