I don't want to change anything, I just want to get my site unblocked from RIPE. ARIN has agreed that I have a legit need and has removed all blocks. After 13 years RIPE suddenly blocked me and will not remove the block no matter what explanation I give and they won't answer my questions. They just tell me I have to change my queries to include a "-r" I am in contact with the software vendor and I am trying to get something done but I had no prior notice. I am getting complaints and the following I have built up over 13 years is being lost. Even if I can include the "-r" the abuse contact will no longer show up and people are going to leave my site anyway. This is a major disaster for me and I cannot get any of my questions answered from RIPE or ICANN/IANA. They couldn't care less.
As for passing through the IP of the requesters of the whois records I have asked about this several times. ARIN told me they don't support it and RIPE won't answer my inquiries. Are there standards for that or any other information about setting up some sort of ip address pass-through or proxy for whois queries for the RIR's? That's because whois is one of the simplest protocols there is. For example, to get the details for 192.0.2.1, just telnet into port 43 of whois.ripe.net. As soon as the disclaimer comes up, type "192.0.2.1" followed by enter, and you get the results.
Why would you want to mess up as simple a protocol as that with something like the X-Forwarded-For header in HTTP?
RIPE can only see the IP you're connecting from, and it's doing a lot more traffic than a normal IP. If you have a legit need, they can and will give you bulk access for that ip.
Niall.