ICANN: Re-engineered Whois Inaccuracy System Goes Live

By Marc Handelman on December 19th, 2008

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). has released it’s highly touted (and anticipated), re-engineered Whois Inaccuracy Reporting System. Whois services generally provide a mechanism for locating contact and registration information for resources registered with specific NICs. (ARIN, AfriNIC, DoDNIC, InterNIC, LACNIC, RIPE).

Most, if not all, Whois databases also generally contains IP addresses, related Points of Contact) POC data, Autonomous System [AS] designators, companies, customers or organizations that may be associated with these resources. Up until the release of this newest scheme, the Whois Reporting System has (…how shall I say this politely…) been functionally problematic…The full ICANN announcement appears after the jump.
Revamped Whois Inaccuracy Reporting System Goes Live

19 December 2008

A redesigned system for receiving reports of inaccurate domain name registration data has gone live today.

The Whois Data Problem Report System (WDPRS) has a number of advantages over the previous system, which was first introduced in 2002. Among them are:

More detailed information is captured from complainants to assist registrars in investigating Whois inaccuracies
Duplicate reports regarding the same domain name are not accepted by the system
Reports concerning domains already on hold are removed
Greater capacity has been introduced to allow for bulk submissions of reports
Processes have been put in place to assess registrar compliance with RAA Whois inaccuracy investigation requirements

The revamped WDRPS can be found at http://wdprs.internic.net/.

Background:

The WDPRS allows the public to file reports of Whois inaccuracy regarding active domain names. The WDPRS transmits Whois inaccuracy reports, via email, to the sponsoring registrars for investigation as required by Section 3.7.8 of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/ra-agreement-17may01.htm.

In 2002, ICANN developed the WDPRS to improve Whois data accuracy and to assist registrars in carrying out their responsibility to take reasonable steps to investigate Whois inaccuracy claims. Although significant system enhancements were made over the past six years to address community needs, a more comprehensive system redesign was determined necessary to realise the system objectives. This new software system also allows ICANN to make future enhancements quickly to respond to community needs.

Since its implementation in 2002, ICANN has seen a significant rise in the number of Whois inaccuracy reports filed through this system. In 2002, approximately 24,000 Whois inaccuracy reports were filed using the WDPRS. In 2008, over 200,000 reports have been filed since 1 March 2008

In an effort to improve Whois accuracy, registrar compliance with RAA investigation requirements, operational effectiveness, data processing, data recovery, and increase data capacity, ICANN commenced WDPRS redesign plans earlier this year. In consultation with the Intellectual Property Constituency, the Registrar Constituency and other community members, ICANN redesigned the system.

Through the redesigned WDPRS, ICANN seeks to address concerns raised by the Internet community regarding system irregularities, the filing of irrelevant claims and insufficient data capacity. ICANN conducted beta testing with external constituencies to ensure operational functionality and usability of the system prior to launching the redesigned WDPRS. ICANN encourages the Internet community to provide comments to ensure the continual improvement of the WDPRS.

Please submit comments at wdprs-comments@icann.org . Comments may be viewed at http://forum.icann.org/lists/wdprs-comments/.