[sig-db] Action point from Brisbane's SIG-DB meeting

[Joao Luis Silva Damas <joao@ripe.net>]

Dear all,
as discussed during the SIG-DB session during the most recent APNIC 
meeting, here is the agreed action on APNIC to consider apolicy 
change on registration in the whois Database and a request to 
investigate and report back to the SIG on possible implications of 
the change.

Best regards,
Joao Damas

***********
A proposal for non-disclosure of contact information corresponding to
residential users
***********

A whois database in the context of an Internet Registry is a publicly
accesible (via the Internet) database containing information about the
resources allocated to Internet users by Internet Registries.

The information stored in the database describes the resources distributed
and contact information relevant to those resources and is made available
to aid in the resolution of operational issues in the network.

Two types of contacts are defined for each network resource registered:

- Technical contact (tech-c): Is the contact person or group of persons
responsible for the operation of the network that makes use of the
registered resource

- Administrative contact (admin-c): Is the contact information for all
other issues, such as financial, content, etc matters.

As the Internet has evolved over the years, it has now become common to
have residential users operating small size networks in their residences.
Under current policy, the postal address, telephone number and fax number
(if available) are registered in the public whois database and can
therefore be accessed by any Internet user.

It is a fact that the users operating these small networks usually are
unable to respond to operational incidents as well as an established ISP
would be able to.  Therefore, there is a belief that disclosing the contact
information for those users may have privacy implications while not adding
a significant benefit in the resolution of Internet operational issues.

Under this proposal, residential users would be registered as admin-c for
the networks they possess and their postal address, telephone number and
fax number would be collected in the database but not shown as result of a
query to the whois database by an Internet user.

The corresponding tech-c for that network needs to be reachable by
telephone for troubleshooting. However, if the residential user does not
wish to have their private telephone disclosed, then the tech-c
would be the ISP providing
Internet access for the residential user.  The tech-c's postal address
would not be disclosed, in a manner similar to the case for the admin-c.

**********

The need for a this modification in policy is requested by NIRs where the
non-adoption of this policy is likely to create violations of privacy laws.

We request APNIC to investigate the implications of this proposal for APNIC
under the Australian legal framework and report on any limitations.

Also, we request APNIC to investigate the implications of NOT introducing
this proposal and staying with the current full disclosure of contact
information for this type of user.

The SIG would like to request APNIC to report back to the SIG mailing lists
with the outcome of the consultation.



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