This page provides results from the Phase 1 Syntax Accuracy report. For the full report, see here. For additional result summaries for Phase 1, see here.

Phase 1 Findings

Phase 1 findings show the rates of syntax accuracy (Phase 2 looks at both syntax and operability accuracy) of WHOIS contact information over several dimensions, focusing on rates of conformance by contact mode (Email, Telephone or Post) to the requirements of RAAs (2009 RAA or 2013 RAA). Our analysis finds that approximately 99 percent of email addresses, 85 percent of telephone numbers, and 79 percent of postal addresses met all of the baseline syntax requirements of the 2009 RAA, as shown in the table below.

Regarding the individual contact modes, we can make the following general observations: 

• If an email is provided, it always passed all syntax accuracy tests
• Two-thirds of the telephone numbers that failed at least one syntax accuracy check (13 percent of all telephone numbers) failed the length criteria for the applicable country
• Postal addresses that failed at least one syntax accuracy check (23 percent of all postal addresses) were typically missing at least one required field such as postal code, state, city, or street