Policy Proposal: Whois Integrity Policy Proposal

[Member Services]

ARIN received the following policy proposal. In accordance with the ARIN
Internet Resource Policy Evaluation Process, the proposal is being
posted to the ARIN Public Policy Mailing List (PPML) and being placed on
ARIN's website.

The ARIN Advisory Council (AC) will review this proposal at their next
regularly scheduled meeting. The AC may decide to:

     1. Accept the proposal as written. If the AC accepts the proposal,
it will be posted as a formal policy proposal to PPML and it will be
presented at a Public Policy Meeting.

     2. Not accept the proposal. If the AC does not accept the proposal,
the AC will explain their decision via the PPML. If a proposal is not
accepted, then the author may elect to use the petition process to
advance their proposal. If the author elects not to petition or the
petition fails, then the proposal will be closed.

The AC will assign shepherds in the near future. ARIN will provide the
names of the shepherds to the community via the PPML.

In the meantime, the AC invites everyone to comment on this proposal on
the PPML, particularly their support or non-support and the reasoning
behind their opinion. Such participation contributes to a thorough
vetting and provides important guidance to the AC in their deliberations.

The ARIN Internet Resource Policy Evaluation Process can be found at:
http://www.arin.net/policy/irpep.html

Mailing list subscription information can be found at:
http://www.arin.net/mailing_lists/

Regards,

Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)


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Policy Proposal Name:  Whois Integrity Policy Proposal

Author: Heather Schiller

Proposal Version: 1

Submission Date:  August 15, 2008

Policy statement:

To ensure the integrity of information in the ARIN WHOIS Database a
resource must be under an RSA (either legacy or traditional) in order to
update the WHOIS record.  ARIN will not update historical information in
the ARIN Whois Database until the resource holder can prove the
organization's right to the resource.


Rationale:

ARIN currently maintains WHOIS and in-addr.arpa delegation records in a
best-effort fashion.  In many cases ARIN does not have a formal
agreement with the legacy resource holders.  Legacy records are
frequently out of date and have become an increasingly popular target
for hijackers.  Having up to date contact information and a formal
relationship with legacy record holders would assist ARIN and ISP's in
ensuring these records are maintained accurately.  A similar policy was
successfully adopted in the APNIC region.
(http://www.apnic.net/policy/proposals/prop-018-v001.html)

Timetable for implementation:

Within sixty (60) days of approval - with notification to current POC
email addresses listed on historical assignments, or as soon as
reasonable for ARIN staff.