[gnso-rds-pdp-wg] Apologies, and some reflections on requirements

[Andrew Sullivan]

On Sat, Jun 25, 2016 at 07:47:12AM -0400, Nathalie Coupet wrote:
>  Could you please explain how registrants and users might access such a distributed database (technically) to modify/correct their data or just to view it?
> 

This isn't a "might" case: it's a "how do they do it now?" case.  I
wasn't describing a possible future; I was describing how stuff
actually works.

Today, if you register a domain name in almost all TLDs (and certainly
in any contracted gTLD), you go through a registrar.  The registrar
has data about whoever registers the name (if you register through a
proxy service, in effect they're the registrant, and you have a
separate contract with them that permits you continued control over
the name they've registered).  In particular, all the billing and
other contact data is collected by the registrar.  To update anything,
you go to the registrar, so that's how a registrant updates the data.

In "thin" registries, the contact data never leaves the registrar.
You can actually see how this works in whois today in com:

---%<---cut here---

ajs$ whois anvilwalrusden.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

   Domain Name: ANVILWALRUSDEN.COM
   Registrar: TUCOWS DOMAINS INC.
   Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 69
   Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
   Referral URL: http://www.tucowsdomains.com
   Name Server: NS1.SYSTEMDNS.COM
   Name Server: NS2.SYSTEMDNS.COM
   Name Server: NS3.SYSTEMDNS.COM
   Status: ok https://icann.org/epp#ok
   Updated Date: 09-jun-2016
   Creation Date: 30-jun-2010
   Expiration Date: 30-jun-2017

>>> Last update of whois database: Sat, 25 Jun 2016 13:20:04 GMT <<<

[now comes a bunch of legal disclaimer]

[up to this point, the answer came from Verisign's whois server.
Notice the "referral URL".  It tells the client, "Query this other URL
too."]

Domain Name: ANVILWALRUSDEN.COM
Domain ID: 1604487787_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.tucows.com
Registrar URL: http://tucowsdomains.com
Updated Date: 2016-06-09T03:51:47Z
Creation Date: 2010-06-30T19:23:14Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2017-06-30T19:23:14Z
Sponsoring Registrar: TUCOWS, INC.
Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 69
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: domainabuse at tucows.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4165350123
Reseller: 2228447 Ontario Inc.
Domain Status: ok https://icann.org/epp#ok
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0124230102
Registrant Organization: Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0124230102
Registrant Street: 96 Mowat Ave
Registrant City: Toronto
Registrant State/Province: ON
Registrant Postal Code: M6K 3M1
Registrant Country: CA
Registrant Phone: +1.4165385457
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: anvilwalrusden.com at contactprivacy.com
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0124230102
Admin Organization: Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0124230102
Admin Street: 96 Mowat Ave
Admin City: Toronto
Admin State/Province: ON
Admin Postal Code: M6K 3M1
Admin Country: CA
Admin Phone: +1.4165385457
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: anvilwalrusden.com at contactprivacy.com
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0124230102
Tech Organization: Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0124230102
Tech Street: 96 Mowat Ave
Tech City: Toronto
Tech State/Province: ON
Tech Postal Code: M6K 3M1
Tech Country: CA
Tech Phone: +1.4165385457
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: anvilwalrusden.com at contactprivacy.com
Name Server: NS1.SYSTEMDNS.COM
Name Server: NS2.SYSTEMDNS.COM
Name Server: NS3.SYSTEMDNS.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2016-06-09T03:51:47Z <<<

"For more information on Whois status codes, please visit https://icann.org/epp"

Registration Service Provider:
    2228447 Ontario Inc., ajs at crankycanuck.ca
    +1.4167311261
    This company may be contacted for domain login/passwords,
    DNS/Nameserver changes, and general domain support questions.

This domain's privacy is protected by contactprivacy.com. To reach the domain contacts,
please go to http://www.contactprivacy.com and follow the instructions.

[and more legal disclaimer]
[This part, as you ca see, is from Tucows, where I have a reseller account.]

---cut here--->%---

The problem with whois (the protocol) for this are manifold, and I
don't think I need to rehearse them here.  But none of that matters,
because RDAP has addressed all of those problems, so the technical
barriers are no longer in the way.

So the answer to your question is that registrars today can look at
this data via whois today, and will be able to use RDAP when it is
implemented.  And if this WG comes up with a sensible privacy policy,
then the registrant ought to be able to able to view data that others
can't.

Best regards,

A

-- 
Andrew Sullivan
ajs at anvilwalrusden.com