.Ca is getting a whois overhaul. Perhaps the rest of the domain world can use it as a framework.
There have been a number of suggested changes to ICANN’s whois framework. But Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is making changes to its .ca country code on its own. Canada-based domain registrar Tucows (AMEX: TCX) is reporting that CIRA will make sweeping changes to its whois policies on June 10:
-Whois registrant data will be made private by default. It will be “opt-in” if registrants want their information public.
-Whois data for corporations and organizations will be public by default with an opt-out in certain circumstances. (This may mean that domains with an organization as the registrant will not get privacy).
-.Ca domain registrants can be contacted via a contact form on CIRA’s web site
I’m generally in favor of keeping domain registrant data public. But CIRA’s new policy reminds me of an idea I proposed a while back: “masking” e-mail addresses in whois.
Essentially, all domain names would be assigned a masked email address such as domainnamewirecom@icann.org. This would be a forwarding address to the registrant’s actual email. This would serve a couple purposes:
1. ICANN could track whois spammers
2. If the email forward bounced, ICANN would know that the registrant had invalid information and could inform their registrar
I think we’ll see changes to whois privacy rules for non-country code domains in the future. But the future may be a ways off.
David says
I think you meant “overhaul”. 😉
That’s likely good news for the average user, though can’t say the same maybe for big companies there. 😀
Andrew says
@ David – thanks for catching the error 🙂
Tony Q King says
I kept staring at this page, trying to find its date, or at least a YEAR!
I’m currently having some problems with GoDaddy Whois info, and note that Canada (CIRA) will upgrade its stuff on June 10th!
Is that THIS year? (2014)
Why cannot dweebs that write this stuff (or at least publish it) put a PROMINENT DATE at the top of the page?
Tony Q King says
Wait! I just spotted the date: May 05, 2008 !!
But is in VERY LIGHT grey! Barely visible on my monitor! Once again: Why cannot the date be more visible? !!