-----Original Message----- From: Steven J. Sobol <sjsobol@nacs.net> <snip>

The WHOIS data is what I don't want being sold.

Why would people buy it ? You can download the contact data base that not only has whois info but also the billing contacts which I think were separated from the basic whois information. Of course, part of the problem in doing this is that 30 minutes after you do this the database is out of date. NSI has a relationship with their customers which you do not. One may have to look at this and decide if the relationship is what has the value or the actual data base. One could argue that the relationship is where the value is because we just discussed above that you can get the data but it is of little use without the customers consenting to developing a relationship with you. Eventually, this all ends up in the age old discussion about what is data and what is information. NSI has the information and the data. You can obtain the data but not the information. The information is where the value is. People WILL pay for information. Jim Fleming Unir Corporation - http://www.unir.com End-2-End: VPC(Java)---C+@---<IPv8>---C+@---(Java)VPC http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/130dftmail/unir.txt http://www.ddj.com/index/author/idx10133.htm