Trying to change it to an opt-in makes sense, but to not do the opt-out
when you could be doesnt really make so much sense.
If, for instance, the opt-in/out data were kept as an enum in a mysql
database, youd have 'opt-out','opt-in','default' as your set. All existing
domains would initially get flagged as 'default'. With current ICANN rules,
tucows would give out all domains with the 'opt-in' and 'default' flags set
when somone ponied up their $10k. If ICANN (by some miracle) does change to
an opt-in policy, then you only give out the ones that are marked 'opt-in'.
If you used some scheme like this, you wouldnt be doubling your development
work and could easily support either policy with only minor changes to your
export script.
If the development calendar is too full of other things, then that might
be a good reason to put it off. It simply doesnt make sense to wait for
opt-in which will likely be a long time coming though. This assumes that
Tucows doesnt mind devaluing their whois database in order to protect their
customer's privacy (which I certainly hope and trust is the case). I am
really not sure how many people buy the database, so this may be a bigger
financial issue for Tucows than I am assuming.
-matt
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Matt Prigge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001 2:10 PM
Subject: Re: whois list
>
> The last time I saw NSI's registration template (about a year ago), they
> had a field that asks if you want to opt-out of bulk access. So it
> appears other registrars are offering it.
>
> Also, I believe Ross posted something here the last time this came up.
> Tucows was trying to get ICANN to switch to an opt-in policy for bulk
> access. I don't believe they have (or had) plans to allow "opt-out" since
> they prefer "opt-in".
>
> -Bill
>
