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There'll be another WHOIS conference call tomorrow at 9 a.m. EST. The call will focus on privacy aspects of WHOIS. Speakers include Ruchika Agrawal from EPIC, Alan Davidson from CDT, ICANN director Karl Auerbach, Wendy Seltzer (ALAC and EFF), and Sven Mörs from the Berlin state privacy commissioner's office.

Writes Sven Mörs on the whois-coordination list: It goes without saying that any contractual obligations (e.g. in a registrar accreditation agreement) can not overrule existing and applicable legislation. ... Any future ICANN procedure or rules for Whois should take the existing privacy legislation into account - not only in the best interest of the registrants but also of the *registrars* many of whom might otherwise be left with the choice to either being in conflict with the national privacy legislation of their respective country or in breach of the registar accreditation agreement.