[DNSOP] whois: the protocol that can't be killed even though it must

[Jim Reid <[e-mail]>]

On 21 Nov 2010, at 22:20, Patrik Fältström wrote:

> Noone is asking strong enough to get correct data from the whois  
> service. Instead, ICANN is asking to have the whois protocol  
> available, and on top of that money is spent on anonymous  
> registration (2nd hand registration) etc.
>
> So as long as that is what people ask for, you will not see iris.

I'm not sure anyone is actually asking for the current horror story  
that is whois. We've just hit a stalemate in this trench warfare where  
no progress can ever be made because everyone has settled for the  
status quo: the least worst option that the majority of players will  
grudgingly accept.

>> That there's no uptake seems to me to be an indication that  
>> registries don't want additional costs.
>
> Registries do only implement what people ask for.

Or what they're compelled to implement. In theory ICANN could get  
every gTLD to use IRIS overnight by the stroke of a pen. It's just a  
teeny change to the registry contracts, right? :-)