Policy Proposal 2008-7: Whois Integrity Policy Proposal

[Member Services]

On 21 August 2008, the ARIN Advisory Council (AC) concluded its review
of "Whois Integrity Policy Proposal" and accepted it as a formal policy 
proposal for discussion by the community.

The proposal is designated Policy Proposal 2008-7: Whois Integrity 
Policy Proposal. The proposal text is below and can be found at:
http://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/2008_7.html

All persons in the community are encouraged to discuss Policy Proposal
2008-7 prior to it being presented at the ARIN XXII Public Policy
Meeting. Both the discussion on the Public Policy Mailing List
and at the Public Policy Meeting will be used to determine the community
consensus regarding this policy proposal.

AC shepherds for this proposal are Paul Andersen and Bill Darte.

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

ARIN's Policy Proposal Archive can be found at:
http://www.arin.net/policy/proposals/proposal_archive.html

Regards,

Member Services
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)


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Policy Proposal 2008-7:
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frequently out of date and have become an increasingly popular target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.