Earlier today, I shared information about how people can report domain names to ICANN when the Whois contact information is inaccurate. Although most of the commenters didn’t seem to like the idea of doing this, Abdu Tarabichi thought it might yield a more accurate response with an anonymous poll, and I agree with him.

Would you report a domain name to ICANN for having invalid contact information (like bouncing email address or disconnected phone numbers) in an effort to acquire the domain name? As I mentioned in the post this morning, I personally wouldn’t, but it’s more a matter of being better able to track down and contact the owner instead of taking the chance that the domain name is deleted and available for others to buy.

Your turn to vote anonymously:

In my update post yesterday, I mentioned how I find it to be a good sign when a Whois email address contact doesn’t work. I look at it as a challenge to find the owner to try and buy the domain name. Abdu Tarabichi of Domainsville replied to my comment suggesting that the domain name can be reported to ICANN, and if they can’t get in touch with the owner, it might be deleted and he could possibly catch the drop.

As he pointed out in his comment, ICANN does have a form to report a domain name that has invalid Whois information. The form is called the “Whois Inaccuracy Complaint Form,” and you can file a complaint by visiting the ICANN website.

According to the website,  “this form allows Internet users to submit a complaint to  ICANN  regarding incomplete or incorrect Whois data, including privacy or proxy contact information. The complaint is then forwarded to the sponsoring registrar, who must take reasonable steps to investigate and correct inaccurate data.”

In response to Abdu’s suggestion, someone

If the idea of Internet governance is appealing to you, a recent announcement by ICANN might pique your interest. A couple of weeks ago, a blog post on ICANN’s website  announced that “ICANN’s Nominating Committee (NomCom) invites Statements of Interest and candidate recommendations from the Internet community for key leadership positions to fulfill ICANN’s technical and policy coordination role.”

Positions are open on the following boards and committees:  ICANN Board, the Councils of GNSO and ccNSO, and the ALAC. If you know what these abbreviations stand for, you are ahead of the game. If you don’t, you can visit the link in the above paragraph to learn more about them and what they do.

People are often critical of ICANN, and this is an opportunity to get involved and become active in the greater Internet community. Personally, I have no interest in getting involved in ICANN, although I think it’s a wise idea for domain investors to at least stay apprised of current ICANN issues.

Kevin Murphy does a pretty solid job of covering ICANN issues on DomainIncite.com, and George Kirikos watches ICANN very closely and reports his opinion on Twitter.