Domain name registrant information, WHOIS, and UDRP cases at FORUM

How can you find out who has registered a particular domain name?

Before 2018 and the emergence of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, you could simply do an online lookup on the WHOIS database. WHOIS is an Internet record of who owns a domain name and how to get in contact with that party.

As a result of the GDPR, registrars now redact identifying information about domain name registrants from WHOIS, so WHOIS is no longer a sufficient tool for the general public to use to discover domain name registration information.

Instead, a party can reach out to a domain name registry or registrar directly and request registrant information. Parties can also choose to reach out through ICANN’s pilot Registration Data Request Service (RDRS), which essentially operates as a ticketing system so that ICANN can track such requests going to registries and registrars.

These requests must include extensive information from the requestor, including:

• Full requestor name and contact details
• Statement that requested data is specifically required for a legally legitimate need
• Brief summary of the underlying issue and legal basis, including documentation
• Statement that information received will be handled in compliance with data protection laws
• Statement that the request is complete and accurate

If you are filing a UDRP complaint with FORUM, do you have to follow the steps above to obtain respondent information? Fortunately, you do not.

FORUM permits a UDRP claim to be filed including whatever identifying information is available on WHOIS, or otherwise available publicly.

FORUM will then request verification from the registrar and provide the registrant information to the UDRP complainant with a request to amend the complaint to include accurate registrant information.

While privacy regulations now shield domain name registrant contact information from the general public, parties looking to file a UDRP dispute with FORUM have an efficient way forward. Complainants simply file using the best available information on the registrant’s identity and then amend their complaint to include the updated information that is provided to them by FORUM.