auDA, the body which administers the domain name system in the .au (i.e. Australia) space (OK, ccTLD) has embarked on a review (pdf) of its WhoIS policy.
There are 2 main issues:
- Should there be any changes to auDA’s WHOIS Policy covering the collection, disclosure and use of WHOIS data for .au domain names?
- Should access to .au domain name data (other than via WHOIS) be opened up?
Apparently, there was a workshop in October 2013 where these issues were canvassed (and you can view a video online – it does go for 1 hour and 25 minutes).
I think if you are a trade mark owner, or act for trade mark owners, you would be well-advised to be making submissions to at least retain the basic information you need to identify the registrant if you want to challenge the registration as conflicting with your trade mark.
I am also not sure why the WhoIS information does not include the date the current registrant became the registrant.
auDA has called for submissions to be made by 31 January 2014.
Link to the Issues Paper (pdf again)