When a website infringed your trademark or copyright, or
otherwise violated your rights, the first place you likely went was
to the WHOIS database, to find out who owned and operated that
website. That database has been a great tool for intellectual
property owners, and others who have fought misuse of their rights
on the Internet.
But many parts of the WHOIS database are likely to slip out of
public view. Because of the European General Data Protection
Directive (GDPR), domain name registrars (the companies that sell
the rights to use particular domain names) will soon be limiting
the information they disclose about their customers, the owners of
domain name registrations.
GDPR, of course, protects only the privacy of European citizens
and residents, but many of the practices that it requires for
Europe are likely to be adapted worldwide. Domain name registrars
are unlikely to want to analyze each domain name registration for
European connections, and are likely
