With encouragement from stakeholders in the intellectual property arena,(9) ICANN has attempted to improve the quality of information in the Whois database. As law enforcers, we support the use of the proposed Registrar Accreditation Agreement (Accreditation Agreement) to elicit a more active role for registrars in ensuring that the Whois database contains accurate contact information.(10)

Several measures contained in the Accreditation Agreement are particularly noteworthy. One essential provision, paragraph II(J)(7), requires a registrar to collect contact information in a number of categories from an applicant for a domain name, and specifies that the applicant's willful failure to provide accurate information may result in the termination of the registration. From a law enforcement perspective, the most critical information gathered is the name and physical address of the domain name holder, which is necessary to identify an alleged wrongdoer and facilitate service of process.(11)