>These down votes reflect a perception of the present without a context for the past

I think rather the comments in support of an open Whois are looking at the past with overwhelming nostalgia instead of objective reality.

To your own point, the Web is a very different place now. But Whois is still the same, reflecting a reality that no longer exists. It's time for a change.

I don't think that comment was supporting open whois, just giving a historical context.

There were still bad actors of course. But the tipping point hadn’t been reached where they materially spoilt it for the rest of us. In those days you might get one spam/phishing/whatever email a week and you’d complain to the SA of the originating site and get a personal email back that they’d dealt with it. Nowadays of course it is a river of sewage.