Beginning in May a new rule will be enforced regarding domain records, vnunet:

Under the new rules, domains with incomplete or incorrect records will be suspended for 15 days and then deleted if the records are still not amended.

What is the reasoning for this?

"It's similar to the number plate on a car. The DVLA has to have contact details for each driver so that if you're involved in an accident they can contact you," said Brown.

"In the same way, if a domain is involved in spamming or cyber-squatting, the owners need to be contactable."

Except, of course, the DMV database isn't easily searcheable by anyone with whois access (no, you need to pay some slimy company a fee to get that info).

Icann's efforts could be affected by the reluctance of owners to place their details on a public database, which could be 'harvested' and used by spammers and bulk mailers.

You think? I get an average of 30 pieces of spam a day to the email address associated with my domain record.. that's the only thing I use that email address for.. (apparently that only thing is spam, nobody has ever attempted to contact me about any of my domains).

How about the reluctance of owners to place their details on a public database because they fear for their privacy and don't want any random nutcase (like, say one that's been emailing them for 3 years with scary content that would indicate the person desperately needs psychiatric help) having easy access to their physical address!

Why is it that privacy is always the last thing on everyone's mind with these things.. it's not just businesses that own domains.

So reason is cybersquatting and spamming? Why not only apply it to those domains?