March 2025

Access to domain name ownership information has undergone significant changes during recent years, with the implementation of the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP), a platform designed to completely replacing the pre-existing WHOIS system. This transition has been aiming to ensure security, privacy, and stricter control over domain registration data, in compliance with international regulations, including the GDPR.

Developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force, RDAP introduces major improvements over WHOIS, including:

• support for data internationalization, allowing non-Latin characters,
• secure and differentiated access to information based on user rights,
• quick identification of authoritative services, facilitating data verification,
• a more flexible system, allowing restricted access based on strict criteria.

Although RDAP was initially implemented in 2019, WHOIS continued to operate in parallel until 2025. However, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has decided to fully retire WHOIS, encouraging users to access RDAP through the ICANN Lookup platform or via the open-source client available on GitHub.

For entities requiring access to non-public data, ICANN has introduced the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS). This service is designed for government authorities, law enforcement agencies, intellectual property professionals, cybersecurity experts, and consumer protection organizations.

According to an ICANN report from January 2025, 93 registrars are participating in RDRS, and in December 2024 alone, 141 standard and 15 priority requests were recorded. Of these, 29 were submitted by intellectual property rights holders, 14 by consumer protection authorities, and 8 by law enforcement agencies.

Through the implementation of RDAP and RDRS, ICANN ensures more secure and regulated access to domain registration data, protecting user privacy while complying with international data protection regulations.

Andreea Bende prepared a detailed overview of the topic and of the current state of play, available in Romanian HERE.

More details on BACIU PARTNERS award-winning Intellectual Property practice are available HERE.

BACIU PARTNERS is the umbrella brand for BACIU & ASOCIATII Law Firm, BACIU BENDE IP SRL and BPARTNERS 360 REGULATORY SRL.