Thick WHOIS
Implementation Project Status
Updated 7 May 2019
Implementation of Policy Recommendation 1 of the Thick WHOIS Policy Development Process Final Report [PDF, 1.2 MB] includes two outcomes: the "Transition from Thin to Thick for .COM, .NET, and .JOBS" and the "Consistent Labeling and Display of WHOIS Outputs for all gTLDs":
"The provision of thick WHOIS services, with a consistent labeling and display as per the model outlined in specification 3 of the 2013 [Registrar Accreditation Agreement], should become a requirement for all gTLD registries, both existing and future."
The policies require all gTLD registrations to be "thick," with a consistent labeling and display of WHOIS outputs. Those gTLD registry operators currently providing thin WHOIS services – .COM, .NET and .JOBS – must submit all new domain name registrations as Thick WHOIS. These registries must also migrate all data required for Thick WHOIS services for existing domain names.
Transition from Thin to Thick for .COM, .NET and .JOBS
- Policy Announcement: February 2017
- Policy Effective Dates: May 2018 and November 2019, May 2020, February 2020 (please note the revised contractual compliance dates on the published policy)
Consistent Labeling and Display of WHOIS output for all gTLDs
- Policy Announcement: February 2017
- Policy Effective Date: August 2017
Timeframe
- Board Approval of Policy Recommendations: February 2014
- Implementation completion for the CL&D Policy: August 2017
- Implementation completion for the Transition Policy: November 2020
Summary
ICANN specifies Registration Data Directory Service (RDDS) requirements through the Registry Agreement (RA) and the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). Registries meet their obligations using different service models, which are commonly referred to as "thin" and "thick" RDDS registries. This distinction is based on how two distinct sets of RDDS data are managed. "Thin" data is associated with the domain name, and "thick" data is associated with the registrant and contacts of the domain name.
- Thin RDDS registries only maintain and provide the information associated with the domain name while registrars maintain and provide information associated with the registrant and contacts of the domain.
- Thick RDDS registries maintain and provide both sets of data.
- At the time of implementation of this Consensus Policy, only .COM, .NET and .JOBS were thin RDDS Registries
In line with section 7.2 of the Final Report [PDF, 1.2 MB], ICANN and the Thick WHOIS Implementation Review Team identified two outcomes for the Thick WHOIS Policy recommendations and agreed that their implementation could be split into two tracks:
- Consistent Labeling and Display of WHOIS output for all gTLDs
- Transition from thin to thick for .COM, .NET and .JOBS