WHOIS POLICY

1. Statement of Purpose

1.1 This policy sets out the availability and acceptable use of data from the .nz domain name register published through the WHOIS service.

1.2 “WHOIS service” in this policy refers to data provided by the shared registry system (“SRS”) for members of the public to view or use, being the record associated with a specified domain name. It includes the information provided by any party accessing the WHOIS server maintained by New Zealand Domain Name Registry Ltd (trading as .nz Registry Services “NZRS”), regardless of that party’s relationship with NZRS or the Domain Name Commission (“DNC”).

2. Background

2.1 InternetNZ has the ultimate responsibility within New Zealand for the .nz domain name space, and maintains a shared registry system ("SRS") for the management of .nz domain name registrations. InternetNZ has appointed the DNC to manage and administer the .nz domain name space on behalf of InternetNZ.

2.2 The SRS provides a single register for registering domain names and associated technical and administrative information. .nz Registry Services (“NZRS”) operates the registry and WHOIS service.

2.3 Information held in the .nz domain name register is public information, and is made available to the public through the WHOIS service.

3. Principles

3.1 The WHOIS service will provide public access to the information in the .nz domain name register, by responding to a query relating to a specific domain name.

3.2 WHOIS information is provided to allow people to conduct searches on the identity and contact details of registrants and technical contacts, in case they need to be contacted in respect of their domain name.

3.3 WHOIS information is not provided for the commercial benefit of any person or entity. Any use of WHOIS which results in a targeted contact campaign, or is an attempt to obtain a copy of the .nz register, is prohibited.

3.4 WHOIS information will be available for all domain name records.

3.5 InternetNZ holds copyright over all information in the .nz register, including all WHOIS information.

3.6 The DNC retains the right to protect the integrity of the .nz domain name register by appropriately managing and, if necessary, restricting access to the WHOIS service as set out in section 6.

3.7 Access to the WHOIS service will be restricted only to protect the integrity of the service, or for short-term operational reasons.

3.8 Any person or entity may provide a public WHOIS service, so long as they comply with the requirements of this policy.

3.9 The DNC will provide a public WHOIS service through the DNC website at http://dnc.org.nz/

4. WHOIS records

4.1 The WHOIS service will respond to a WHOIS query for a specified domain name. If the domain name is registered, the details as set out in 4.2 will be available. If the domain name is not registered, the WHOIS service will show that it is available for registration.

4.2 The following details will be available in response to a WHOIS query:

• Domain Name;

• Registration status;

• Date registered;

• Date registered/billed until;

• Date last modified;

• Include in DNS;

• Registrar of Record (including contact details);

• Registrant Contact Details;

• Administrative Contact Details;

• Technical Contact Details;

• Name Servers;

• and, if applicable:

• Date cancelled;

• Date locked.

• 4.3.1 the information displayed must be that provided by the WHOIS service; and

• 4.3.2 any notices sent by the SRS must be displayed in full along with the data in the WHOIS record.

5.1 NZRS maintains the WHOIS server on the .nz database.

5.2 The WHOIS server will provide access to the details listed in the .nz register, as described in 4.2 above.

5.3 The WHOIS server will not accept wild card searches.

6. WHOIS data protection

6.1 WHOIS data is made available for the convenience of registrants and interested parties. Conditions apply to its use, and the notices included with any WHOIS query response apply to the data at all times.

6.2 A range of monitoring procedures will be maintained on the WHOIS server to detect any inappropriate use of the server. These procedures are designed to detect and prevent a wide range of inappropriate use and as a matter of policy are not published, in order to maintain their effectiveness.

6.3 NZRS has primary responsibility for monitoring the use of the WHOIS service. In the event that NZRS discovers or suspects abuse of the service, they may take appropriate steps to restrict access to the service including (but not limited to) removing or limiting access to any IP address.

6.4 In extreme circumstances where the integrity of the .nz register is at risk, NZRS may shut down the WHOIS service without notice.

6.5 Where NZRS restricts access they will communicate their actions to the DNC as soon as practicable.

6.6 Where any abuse of the WHOIS server is detected the DNC reserves the right to take preventive action to prevent any further abuse, and/or to penalise the parties involved in perpetrating such abuse. Any such response can be instead of, or in addition to, any steps NZRS may take under clause 6.3 or 6.4.

6.7 The steps the DNC may take include, but are not limited to, the following:

• 6.7.1 removing or limiting any party’s access to the WHOIS service on a permanent or temporary basis;

• 6.7.2 suspending a registrar’s access to the SRS;

• 6.7.3 applying a sanction to a registrar under any applicable agreements or .nz policies.

7. General Information

7.1 A range of current information about .nz policies, registrant rights, and domain names in general is publicly available on the Internet at http://dnc.org.nz.

7.2 Additional information relevant to the interpretation and operation of this policy can be found in the following policies:

• 7.2.1 RMC (Registering, Managing and Cancelling Domain Names) policy available at http://dnc.org.nz/content/registering_managing_cancelling.pdf;

• 7.2.2 RAR (Roles and Responsibilities) policy which is available at http://dnc.org.nz/content/roles_and_responsibilities.pdf; and

• 7.2.3 PRI (Privacy Policy) which is available at http://dnc.org.nz/content/privacy_policy.pdf.

7.4 If anyone has any questions regarding this document please email policies@dnc.org.nz