Subject: Uniqueness of WHOIS handles

From: Florian Weimer <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 12 Oct 2002 21:11:49 +0200

Is there some method to guarantee the uniqueness of WHOIS handles?
Can I register affixes somehwere?

I'm currently creating a WHOIS-like database (which might be publicly
accessible one day), and I'd like to avoid handle collisions with
other WHOIS databases.

(I asked a similar question on some IETF WHOIS list a few months ago,
but this list appears to be dead.)

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From: Rick Wesson <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 12 Oct 2002 12:30:47 -0700 (PDT)

Florian,

there is no guarantee the uniqueness of WHOIS handles. there is no name
space for whois, nor an entity to register such.

pick any prefix you wish.

-rick

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From: Einar Stefferud <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 12 Oct 2002 14:22:42 -0700

I suspect that a better answer was desired.

I suggest that the local WHOIS handles be distinguished by the global WHOIS database name.  I am assuming that no two WHOIS database providers use the same global handle for their WHOIS servers.

Then your database searches can find the instances of local name and report back with all the WHOIS sources available to help resolve the query.  Most of the time, the results will be singular, but when not singular, the query response offers a way to resolve the ambiguity.

Then I think the proposal has a chance of working.

Cheers...\Stef

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From: Harald Tveit Alvestrand <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 21:27:03 +0200

unfortunately WHOIS is a protocol, and a rather simple one.

handles are part of the service that some registries/registrars have chosen 
to implement on top of the WHOIS protocol. (Others provide similar 
services, but don't use handles; others use the WHOIS protocol for 
completely unrelated services.)

For more discussion on issues related to access to registries/registrars, I 
suggest the CRISP working group.

                          Harald

--On 12. oktober 2002 14:22 -0700 Einar Stefferud <[email-masked]> 
wrote:

> I suggest that the local WHOIS handles be distinguished by the global
> WHOIS database name.  I am assuming that no two WHOIS database providers
> use the same global handle for their WHOIS servers.
>
> Then your database searches can find the instances of local name and
> report back with all the WHOIS sources available to help resolve the
> query.  Most of the time, the results will be singular, but when not
> singular, the query response offers a way to resolve the ambiguity.
>
> -
> This message was passed through [email-masked], which
> is a sublist of [email-masked]. Not all messages are passed.
> Decisions on what to pass are made solely by Raffaele D'Albenzio.
>
>