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On September 3, ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers),
which manages the Internet's global addressing system, announced that
it is taking steps to improve the accuracy of the "Whois" database
of Internet addresses.
First on ICANN's list is improving its facilities for handling reports from
the public about incomplete or inaccurate Whois data. It has also taken steps
to enforce its contracts with domain name registrars, who are legally bound
to provide complete and accurate data to the ICANN registry.
In particular, ICANN has cracked down on VeriSign, the world's largest retailer
of top-level Internet addresses. VeriSign is charged with being consistently
negligent in meeting its contractual obligations to provide accurate Whois information,
and is now threatened with revocation of its right to sell top-level domain
names if it fails to rectify violations.
See "ICANN Threatens to Revoke VeriSign's Right to Sell Dot-Com Names"
at http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A33395-2002Sep3
To report inaccuracies in the database, go to
http://www.internic.net/cgi/rpt_whois/rpt.cgi