ICANN in coordination with the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago ("NORC") has undertaken a study of domain name Whois contact data accuracy. Over the years, ICANN constituencies and others have observed apparent inaccuracies in Whois contact data provided by registrants when registering and maintaining domain names. This is ICANN's attempt to contribute to community discussion regarding Whois policy and inform ICANN compliance activities. ICANN and NORC anticipate issuing a preliminary report on the Whois Data Accuracy Study findings at ICANN 36 in Seoul, Korea. NORC's sample plan and proposed design methodology are available for viewing.
NORC Whois Data Accuracy Study Design [PDF, 353K]