Re: [dow2tf] chart of WHOIS data elements

[Thomas Roessler <roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 2003-12-31 15:11:01 -0500, Steve Metalitz wrote:

> (3) It may be advisable to re-title the last three headings of
> Thomas' chart as "registrant technical contact," "registrant
> administrative contact," "registrant billing contact," because
> some other data with a similar name is also available through
> Whois in some cases.  For example, some "billing contact" data is
> available through the registry whois for .com and .net, but it is
> the billing information for the registrar, not the registrant.  

I disagree -- tech-c, admin-c, billing-c, and registrant are all
different animals of the same species; renaming them to "registrant
something" will create wrong impressions about the data structures
we are dealing with.  Besides that, it's inconsistent with the
language in the contracts, and the confusion you mention appears
unlikely in practice.

> (4) In double-checking .biz, .coop, and .museum regarding last
> transferred date, we found a discrepancy in each appendix
> O/attachment 15 to the registry agreement.  In each appendix,
> there is a description of the data elements every record holds.
> For all three, the Domain Record Output description lists Last
> Transferred Date as a data element returned by a domain name
> query.  However, in the example of whois output for a domain
> query, last transferred date is NOT included. It only appears in
> the example for a query on namerserver.  I noted this discrepancy
> with a double asterisk in the chart.  An alternative would be to
> clearly state that the chart was compiled from the examples in
> every registry agreement of what is returned in a domain name
> query.  Then, note that there may be some discrepancies as to
> what is actually described as being returned in the domain name
> record for those same registry agreements, see e.g., last
> transferred date in Appendix O for .biz, .coop, and .museum.
> There is a similar issue with "last updated by" in .biz.  

Inconsistencies also appear with respect to the billing contact for
.aero, .biz, and .museum -- the relevant appendices and attachments
for these TLDs contain several lists of data elements; one of these
lists only has the registrant, tech-c, and admin-c, but not billing
contact information.

> (5) As a matter of presentation, we might consider ways to focus
> attention on the first column of Thomas' chart, since most of the
> discussion about this issue has focused on registrar Whois in
> com/net/org -- this is where most of the personally identifiable
> data is.  If constituencies are unable to provide comprehensive
> responses, they should be encouraged to at least respond
> regarding the items in the first column. 

The data elements that are disclosed by registries, but need not be
disclosed by registrars, also merit close attention.  (This
concerns not just the billing contact, but also the registrant's
phone and fax numbers and e-mail address.)

Regards,
-- 
Thomas Roessler  <roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
At-Large Advisory Committee: http://alac.info/