Fergie's Tech Blog

U.S. FTC Issues Statement on Whois Databases

Via FTC.gov.

The Federal Trade Commission today told a meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers that access to the Whois databases is “critical to the agency’s consumer protection laws, to other law enforcement agencies around the world, and to consumers.” Whois databases are online information directories that contain contact information about website operators. Access to the databases is in question because one of ICANN’s advisory bodies recommended limiting access to Whois data to “technical purposes only.”

Commissioner Jon Leibowitz told the group that FTC attorneys and investigators have used the Whois databases for 10 years to conduct investigations of Internet scams. “Whois databases often are one of the first tools FTC investigators use to identify wrongdoers,” he said. In one case, the agency alleged scammers were using drive-by downloads to install spyware that barraged consumers with pop-up ads and caused some computers to crash. “Using Whois data, the FTC found the defendants, stopped their illegal conduct, and obtained a judgment for millions of dollars in consumer redress. It is uncertain whether the FTC would have been able to locate the defendants without the Whois data,” Leibowitz said.

posted by Fergie @ 6/26/2006 03:30:00 PM