In coincidence with your input, the db-wg also found that whenever the server shows data from a remote server instead of the local data in response to a query, the response should be preceded by a notice clearly informing the user that the information being displayed is coming from another server that contains the authoritative data. Right. It was also noted that the original proposal did not provide a way to look at the "local" object if it contained a refer attribute. In order to avoid potential confusion from a mode of operation where two objects are displayed, it would be better to provide a whois flag (-R was agreed) that would disable the referral and show the local object. Bear in mind that there could be multiple referrals involved i.e. the process is recursive. Suppose the query is for a third-level domain, that the second-level domain is referred from the RIPE DB to a TLD registry server, and that the target domain is referred onward from the TLD server to an ISP's whois server. Now what will the -R flag deliver - the local object in the RIPE DB? That'll give you the coordinates of the TLD server, which you again query with -R to get the ISP 'local' object. Regards. Mike