With GDPR Implications, German Regional Court Rules Against ICANN
A German domain name registrar isn't required to collect administrative and technical data for new registrations, a German court ruled Wednesday, rejecting an injunctive relief request from ICANN seeking to “preserve Whois” (see 1805280001). EPAG Domainservices opted to no longer…
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collect registrants' administrative and technical contact information when selling new domain names because it would violate the EU general data protection regulation. ICANN noted the regional court “did not indicate in its ruling that collecting such data would be a violation of the GDPR.” ICANN General Counsel and Secretary John Jeffrey said the organization will look to continue “ongoing discussions with the European Commission, and WP29, to gain further clarification of the GDPR as it relates to the integrity of WHOIS services." A spokesperson for Tucows, which owns EPAG, pointed us to an earlier statement saying it will continue to allow “those with legitimate purposes, including law enforcement, intellectual property, and commercial litigation interests” to access domain registrant information.