Whois Guard/Protection and the ICANN Policy

[sandogg]

Firstly I'm not sure this is in the right forum, so please move if necessary.

I have both my domains at Namecheap, who offered free WhoisGuard when I transferred/renewed/registered for a year.

I have since found that Namecheap actually own and operate WhoisGuard.

This made me a bit curious about the ICANN whois policy and while it seems all over the place and under review etc, from what I understand registrars must maintain a whois server which must provide accurate whois data.
Furthermore from what I understand from the following statement:

"At least annually, a registrar must present to the registrant the current Whois information, and remind the registrant that provision of false Whois information can be grounds for cancellation of their domain name registration. Registrants must review their Whois data, and make any corrections."

that the registrar must provide accurate whois imformation to the public for free or ICANN may cancel the domain name registration. Although I understand this is under review and in future individuals may not be required to provide whois info but currently this is still necessary.
Sources:
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/advisory-10may02.htm
http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/wdrp.htm
http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois/

Now I had a look at the companies offering whois guards, protection etc. for a fee and these are mostly the registrars themselves.

What I want to know is have I got this right:
The registar has to provide free, accurate whois information to the public or this may result in domain name registration cancellation.
However the registrars also offer services such as WhoisGuard which withelds this information for a fee?

I must say I am a bit confused about the policies etc.
Can somebody shed some light on this?

[bookworm99]

My understanding is this:

Registrants of a domain name are required to provide certain information for WHOIS. If they don't, they can legally have their domain removed. When you use WhoisGuard or DomainsbyProxy or whatever, what you're actually doing is paying (or not paying) those services to register the domain for you; they then give you control over it under their name. That way, it's registered to them, but you can still use it, keeping your details (supposedly) safe.

Hope that helps.

[Smith6612]

The way I've seen it, WHOIS does require you to fill out the information they want. However, even though you own the site, you can have your registar fill in something such as "Private Individual @ Private Address @ Private Phone/Fax" for a fee or the register can enter in their information for you, while the register still has your information on record for ICANN to be able to identify you despite the false info. I don't know how this all works since I haven't looked into it all that much, but it's my take of it.

[sandogg]

Ah OK.

I decided to actually read the Whois Guard terms and services.

"By subscribing to the WhoisGuard™ Privacy Protection Services (“WhoisGuard™ Services”), you are engaging us to register each domain name controlled by you (“Protected Domain”) in the name of WhoisGuard™."

"You will retain the right to sell, transfer, or assign each Protected Domain. You will retain the right to control and set the DNS settings for the Protected Domain(s). You will retain the right to renew each Protected Domain name registration upon expiration (subject to your registrar's applicable rules and policies). You will remain responsible to resolve any and all monetary or other legal claims that arise in connection with your Protected Domain(s), subject to the remaining provisions of this Services Agreement and the Agreement (collectively, “Agreements”)."

You agree that for each Protected Domain, you will provide to us and maintain as current and accurate, the following information: a) Your name, address, email address, postal address, phone and fax numbers;etc

we reserve the right in our sole judgment and discretion to disclose your personal protected information in the event any of the following occur:

• If necessary to comply with any applicable laws, government rules or requirements, subpoenas, court orders or requests of law enforcement;
• If we are named as a defendant in, or investigated in anticipation of, any legal or administrative proceeding arising out of your use of the WhoisGuard™ Services or a Protected Domain;
• If necessary to comply with ICANN's Dispute Resolution Policy or other policies promulgated by ICANN.

etc,etc.

Sorry if I've put too much policy wording here.

So really if somebody had valid reasons to obtain you whois; and in my opinion just a vague complaint to WhoisGuard would result in them providing your personal data anyway.

Is whois guard/protection worth it?

[zen-r]

I guess what it does still offer is some protection against those annoying spammers who just look up your home & email address from the Whois database. And also from the casual nosey person who does a Whois search to see where you live. You could be using your website address on forums etc, & you may not want every Tom, Dick & Harry to have this info.

Does it say in the TOS whether WhoisGuard will notify you if they have a request for your details? At least that way, even if your details are given out to 3rd parties for legal reasons, you would still have some idea of what is going on.

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