[seanica]

I think Adam's write up is missing this link to ICANN's 'Thick vs. Thin Whois for New gTLDs' Explanatory Memorandum : http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/thick-thin-whois-30... (PDF warning)

On paragraph states: "Proponents of requiring thick Whois argue that being able to access the thick data at both the registry and the registrar level will ensure greater accessibility of the data. The draft report of the Implementation Recommendations Team put together by ICANN's Intellectual Property Constituency stated "the IRT believes that the provision of WHOIS information at the registry level under the Thick WHOIS model is essential to the cost effective protection of consumers and intellectual property owners."

The doc is probably stale though. Not sure where to find the latest revisions.