A panel on Internet names voted Wednesday to conduct further studies on the databases containing names, phone numbers and other private information on domain name owners, deferring long-simmering questions over whether such details should remain public. The committee of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, which oversees Internet addresses, also rejected a proposal to give Internet users the ability to list third-party contacts rather than their own private data in the open, searchable databases called Whois. Law-enforcement officials, trademark lawyers and journalists, as well as spammers, now access the database to figure out who may be behind a Web site. But privacy advocates say individuals shouldn't have to reveal personal information simply to have a Web site.

A third proposal, a so-called "sunset" option that would have eliminated the requirement for domain name registration companies to make the data available through Whois, was narrowly rejected, 13-10. That measure would have likely resulted in large gaps in registration records.

The proposal on listing third-party contacts was defeated 17-7, the same margin by which the studies measure was approved.

Ross Rader, a member of ICANN's generic names council and the sunset proposal's chief sponsor, said after the committee meeting that he was disappointed that the committee opted for an "open-ended" study.

"We've had seven years of study on this issue ... what has not been answered is what are the specific questions we want answers to," Rader said. "From my perspective, further, broad, open study is just a way for (opponents) to say you don't have enough votes to change the status quo."

The committee, the Generic Names Supporting Organization Council, set a deadline of Feb. 15 to identify what types of studies are needed.

Written By ALEX VEIGA