DRAFT eBay Comments on Whois Task Force Preliminary Report 2/3/06 1
Comments of eBay Inc. on the Generic Names Supporting Organization’s (“GNSO”) Whois Task Force Preliminary Report eBay is the world’s largest online trading community and has the world’s leading ecommerce brand. We rely upon speedy, convenient access to Whois data in the global Top Level Domains for a wide range of purposes. These include: to protect our 180 million registered eBay users against fraud; to ensure that our services such as PayPal are in compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations; to manage our own portfolio of trademarks and domain names; and for many other activities that promote the healthy growth of e-commerce. We spelled out in much more detail how we use Whois in a submission to ICANN that we made in July 2004, which can be found at http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/whois-tf3-reportcomments/msg00024.html. We appreciate this chance to comment on the Preliminary Report of the Whois Task Force regarding the purpose of Whois in the generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs). eBay is quite concerned about the possibility that ICANN might adopt a narrow statement that limits the permissible uses of Whois to resolving technical issues. In particular, defining the purpose of Whois solely in terms of “issues related to the configuration of the record associated with the domain name within a DNS nameserver,” as Formulation 1 in the Preliminary Report would do, would be a huge step backwards in the effort to nurture the growth of e-commerce. At eBay, we consult Whois databases hundreds of times a day, almost every day, for purposes that are critical to promoting consumer trust in the online marketplace, but that are not confined to “issues related to the configuration of the record associated with the domain name within a DNS nameserver.” For example, a Whois look-up is an important feature of virtually every investigation we make of phishing attacks directed at our community. We also use Whois to identify and contact domain name registrants who have registered names that are confusingly similar to our brands, so that trademark problems and consumer confusion can be corrected quickly, efficiently, and without the need for litigation. In these and other situations that we encounter many times every day, year in and year out, our use of Whois is, we believe, beneficial to e-commerce, to the eBay online community and to all Internet users; yet these uses would fall outside the scope of the narrow definition reflected in Formulation 1. This would be a particularly inopportune time for ICANN to consider a drastic narrowing of the purposes for which Whois data could be used. The most recent report from the AntiPhishing Working Group counted 16,882 unique reports of phishing e-mails in November 2005 alone, the most recent month for which data is available. This is the highest level reported in the past 13 months. See http://antiphishing.org/reports/apwg_report_Nov2005_FINAL.pdf eBay and PayPal have long been among the businesses most frequently targeted in phishing attacks. Adoption of Formulation 1 and its implementation in ICANN Whois policy for gTLDs would certainly make our responses to phishing attacks more cumbersome, more costly, and/or more time-consuming, even though it is widely acknowledged that time is of the essence if such responses are to be effective in protecting Internet users against fraud. For example, when we encounter false financial escrow sites that involve the use of PayPal, speed is essential
DRAFT eBay Comments on Whois Task Force Preliminary Report 2/3/06 2
to stop these sites from stealing money via wire transfer. Our access to Whois data about fraudulent websites allows us to build a strong case against those engaging in misconduct, which can then be passed to law enforcement for prosecution. These activities would be undermined by adoption of Formulation 1. Similarly, as a licensed money transmitter, PayPal is subject to a host of regulations prohibiting such activities as money laundering and regulating the transmission of funds in connection with online gaming, trafficking in pornography, and other activities. We cannot possibly achieve compliance with these diverse legal obligations unless we can reliably determine who is behind websites accepting money payments via PayPal, where they are located, and who is responsible for their compliance activities. A Whois service that was limited to the data needed to resolve technical issues, as outlined in Formulation 1, would contain little if any of this information. Thus, this narrowing of the purpose of Whois would greatly complicate our efforts to ensure that all transactions are carried out in a legal manner that respects all applicable laws and regulations. Ultimately, our compliance with these legal obligations is essential to promoting public trust in e-commerce. For these and other reasons, we urge ICANN to reject Formulation 1 and to maintain the current Whois system in the gTLDs, which much more closely corresponds to the purpose statement contained in Formulation 2. Resolution of this issue will allow all interested parties to turn their attention to required improvements to the current system, including the need to upgrade the accuracy of Whois data and the consistency of its provision across all the generic Top Level Domains. Respectfully submitted, Jay Monahan Vice President, Intellectual Property eBay Inc.