[zaarn]

WHOIS will not be permanently offline, it will be temporarily offline while the ICANN and others work out how to give access to people who have legitimate interest in the data, ie people looking for a legal contact, sysadmins looking to notify someone, registrars themselves, etc.

I don't think the US patent database will go offline, the EU one might hide personal information like name and address unless you request access under legitimate interest.

[anfogoat]

> how to give access to people who have legitimate interest in the data, ie people looking for a legal contact, sysadmins looking to notify someone, registrars themselves, etc.

That is, anyone but the public. Oh, EU, you've done it again.

[zaarn]

Why does the public need my email and phone number associated with a random internet string in a database?