"People who provide false data when registering a domain name on the Web could be thrown into jail for up to five years, if a recently introduced bill becomes law. "

Well, THATS a bad idea... Whois is a relic of the past. Why should you be forced to give up your telephone number to the world simply because you want to register a domain!!

The proper way to investigate a host is to look the IP address up in ARIN's database and then contact the ISP it was assigned to.