If my name was Jane Doe, but I listed my details as:

First name: J
Last Name: D
Address: correct address, but missing the country, etc.
Phone: a correct but unattended phone
email: a hotmail/ yahoo etc address

All details are correct, but not particularly useful.  I can still be
easily reached via email.  I can still be easily traced by law
enforcement.  Would I encounter any major problems, assuming the site
was used for legitimate purposes?

Hi there!

If someone complained that your contact data was unreliable for the
purposes of reaching you, you could, under a new policy adopted by
ICANN just this month, lose your domain name:

"3.7.7.2 A Registered Name Holder's willful provision of inaccurate or
unreliable information, its willful failure promptly to update
information provided to Registrar, or its failure to respond for over
fifteen calendar days to inquiries by Registrar concerning the
accuracy of contact details associated with the Registered Name
Holder's registration shall constitute a material breach of the
Registered Name Holder-registrar contract and be a basis for
cancellation of the Registered Name registration."

Registrar Accreditation Agreement -  Business Dealings, Including with
Registered Name Holders
http://www.icann.org/registrars/ra-agreement-17may01.htm#3.7.7.2

GANDI.net concurs:

"The Client willful provision of inaccurate or unreliable information,
its willful failure promptly to update information provided to Gandi,
or its failure to respond for over fifteen calendar days to Gandi
requests by electronic mail concerning the accuracy of contact details
associated with the Client's registration shall constitute a material
breach of the contract and be a basis for cancellation of the Domain
Name registration.
--

If someone complaints about inaccurate Whois data for your domain
name, we must request you to update your personal information for this
domain name.

When the personal information are updated, the domain name remains
active.

But if the Whois is still incorrect 15 calendar days after our
request, we must freeze the domain name. That means that the domain
name can nomore be used for any website nor email address. Moreover it
can nomore be transferred to another registrar.  It will be deleted
only after its expiration date; before that it is not available for
registration."

Whois data problem report
http://www.gandi.net/SelfService/Gandi.php?groupid=110&locale=en_GB

John Berryhill contends that ICANN's criteria for inaccurate data are
vague - he asks, for instance, if a registrant is required to answer
the phone:

What Do They Mean By "Inaccurate Data"
http://www.dnso.org/dnso/dnsocomments/comments-whois/Arc01/msg00003.html

Although Mr. Berryhill certainly raises a valid and interesting point,
it would be in your best interests to provide completely accurate
contact information - in the event your domain name were disputed,
providing inaccurate or unreliable contact information could appear to
be part of a "bad faith" registration, and could likewise result in
the loss of your domain name:

"The balance of the statute primarily recounts a non-exclusive list of
nine factors evidencing a domain name registrant’s "bad faith intent"
to profit from another’s trademark.

[...]

        (7) the person's provision of material and misleading false
contact information when applying for the registration of the domain
name, the person's intentional failure to maintain accurate contact
information, or the person's prior conduct indicating a pattern of
such conduct;"

Domain Names
http://www.intellectlawgroup.com/Domain%20Names.htm

Hope that helps!

--Missy

Search terms:  [ "Inaccurate WHOIS data" ], [ Domain registration
"false contact information" ]

---

Clarification of Answer by missy-ga on 22 Oct 2003 00:06 PDT

My apologies, I neglected to include the specific information about
the new ICANN policy:

"First, upon receipt of a complaint concerning inaccurate WHOIS data,
registrars are required to contact the registrant in question and
notify the registrant that a complaint about inaccurate WHOIS data on
their domain name registration[s] has been received.  Registrars
provide the registrant with a brief period of time to confirm the
accuracy of the WHOIS data or to make any necessary corrections. 
Failure to do so can result in the cancellation of the domain name
registration.  The seriousness of this sanction underscores the
importance registrars and ICANN place on the accuracy of WHOIS data.

Second, ICANN recently adopted the Whois Data Reminder Policy (WDRP). 
The WDRP policy, which must be implemented by registrars no later than
October 31, 2003 (with the exception of newly accredited registrars
who have a longer period for compliance), requires registrars to
remind their customers on an annual basis of the obligation to provide
and maintain accurate WHOIS data.  The WDRP obligation requires
registrars to present each registrant with a copy of the WHOIS record
for his or her registration[s] along with an explicit warning that the
provision of false WHOIS data can be grounds for cancellation of the
registration[s].  Thus, the newly adopted WDRP will serve as an
important tool in fostering the accuracy of WHOIS data."

Registrants' Processes for Maintaining Accurate WHOIS Data
http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/registrars/doc00007.doc

--M

---

Request for Answer Clarification by spurious-ga on 22 Oct 2003 01:47 PDT

Thanks.  I have two clarifications:

(1) You wrote: "First, upon receipt of a complaint concerning
inaccurate WHOIS data, registrars are required to contact the
registrant in question and
notify the registrant that a complaint about inaccurate WHOIS data on
their domain name registration[s] has been received."

I take it that if I can be reached through the Whois email at least
and if my registrar can reach me readily, then I should have a
reasonable opportunity to correct the details and avoid a freeze?

(2) You wrote: "If someone complaints about inaccurate Whois data for
your domain name, we must request you to update your personal
information for this
domain name."

If I fail to respond to (or reject) UCE that a spammer has mined off
the whois database, the spammer could notify ICANN and begin
proceedings to have my domain frozen?

---

Clarification of Answer by missy-ga on 22 Oct 2003 08:56 PDT

Hello again!

1)  Yes, if you respond within fifteen calendar days of notification
and update your contact data appropriately, you can head off action by
the registrar.

2)  The ICANN policy does not address spam in the scenario you
describe.  ICANN deals strictly with the rules for domain names and
the procedures for registering them.

*Theoretically*, a spammer angry that you've not responded *could*
complain to your registrar, which would prompt your registrar to
contact you and tell you to update your information within fifteen
calendar days.

*Realistically*, no.  Spammers send out on the order of hundreds of
thousands of pieces of spam a day, and most of it is done
automatically.

[ If you can lay hands on the January 2003 issue of MaximumPC, you can
read their "Interview With A Spammer", who explains that he has
several computers churning out spam 24 hours a day, each under the
direction of automatic mailing software.  Much of this software
generates e-mail addresses automatically, without regard to whether or
not the address might actually exist. ]

Spammers do not concern themselves with non-respondents -
non-respondents are not profitable, after all.  If they harassed every
person who didn't respond to their come-ons, they'd have no time to
spam, especially considering the number of auto-generated addresses.

If your concern about your domain contact information is due to spam,
you'll have better luck successfully avoiding it if you simply
implement a mail filtering solution.

Regards,

--Missy

Thanks; a very thorough answer and excellent value for money.