A Dark Time For Data: WHOIS Blackout Period Likely Starting In May

What do you do when you want to look up the owner of a domain name? You probably perform a "WHOIS search" to find out the owner's name and contact information. The WHOIS system, which makes certain domain registration data publicly available, is an invaluable research tool for trademark owners and their lawyers. But the system as we know it is about to change forever. Because of personal data privacy regulations passed by the European Union (EU), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is racing to finalize an interim model that allows domain name registrars to comply with privacy obligations while still preserving as much WHOIS data as possible. If ICANN cannot finalize a replacement model soon, the WHOIS system will undergo a months-long "blackout" period during which critical domain registration information will no longer be publicly available.