>> I'm noticing an increase in getting "query rate exceeded" at whois >> services that might be connected to a symptom described by ARIN at >> NANOG 48/ARIN XXV and ARIN XXVI where machines ask for the whois >> record of their own IP address. >> >> Are there any clues of what is causing this ? > > Some spam bots do these automated self-referential queries, but if you > are seeing those rate exceeded messages when you perform queries from > your client, you may simply be probably bumping up against a limit for > the source host or network in question.
The ceil seems to be at the joint whois chain, where a RIR can ask another RIR or NIR about an IP. RIRs/NIRs answering such queries with "It's you!" or "Self-referential queries not allowed" would be too harsh or a reasonable approach ? Rubens