"I fail to see how much useful info the IP lawyers are getting from the WHOIS data. If you were setting up a dodgy website offering pirated material for download you would be pretty stupid to use your own details in the WHOIS."
You're missing the important difference between the IP lawyers, and the people who actually own said IP. As long as they can get a name and address and send out a nasty letter, they're getting paid; having a real name and address doesn't get them paid any more, so who cares? WHOIS might not do a damn thing for people legitimately trying to defend their IP, but it provides an endless free source of billable form letters for the lawyers. That's why it's always specifically "IP lawyers" defending it, not "IP owners".
Biting the hand that feeds IT
