ICANN announced the launch of the pilot program for the implementation of the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP). RDAP was adopted as a standard by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in 2015 and is meant to replace Whois. RDAP performs the same functions as Whois, but it’s based on HTTP/S protocol and JSON format, which makes it easier to process the data. In addition, the protocol allows easier usage of non-Latin scripts and, therefore, widens possibilities to work with registration data of internationalized domains.
Participation in the program is voluntary for registries and registrars. They are free to choose their own ways of implementing RDAP and registration data display. ICANN is willing to only be the coordinator of the program so that in the future it could summarize the experience and choose the optimal forms of using RDAP. Pilot program for the implementation of RDAP will last until July 31, 2018. Some observers have expressed concern that RDAP allows differentiating the level of access to registration data. It’s entirely possible that many users of Whois will face a situation in the future that they have less registration information than they do today.
