"Creepy"? How can it be "creepy" to make a business-related call to people whose names were publicized in a business context?
Creepy is showing up unannounced and unintroduced at the front door of an actor or actress you have a crush on. I understand that you may not like to be cold called, but it is not creepy - it's the way much of business is done.
Maybe this varies by area, but professional etiquette everywhere I've been is that you ask before taking an online conversation to the phone. If you're having a forum or email discussion with someone, it's not typical practice to look up their phone number and call them up. For example, I think it would be at least somewhat weird to call someone who posted a StackOverflow question or response, rather than responding to them on SO.
I don't disagree with you about professional etiquette, but to the extent that this is a forum about entrepreneurship, surely we might permit, or even encourage, not to mention applaud, a slight nudging of the boundaries?
It depends a lot on the nature of the call (especially as in this case the forum maybe provided an obvious alternative method of initiating contact - but even then calls can sometimes be more appropriate).
I think people can be forgiven for misjudging their cold-calling timing and technique in their mid-teens too.
And grabbing the numbers from WHOIS itself simply shows initiative
Creepy is showing up unannounced and unintroduced at the front door of an actor or actress you have a crush on. I understand that you may not like to be cold called, but it is not creepy - it's the way much of business is done.