Hi Robin (and all of our other NCUC Council Reps),Thank you for posting this Council invitation for comments on Whois. As I think about preparing comments, I would be interested to know your thoughts and the background of this new proceeding. Based on the discussions on the Council meetings and lists (and perhaps some informal conversations as well):- what do you think Council is expecting from these comments?
- what would you like to see from these comments (what would assist you and past NCUC Whois positions)?
These studies are an opportunity for important facts to be explored regarding the need for privacy protection of Whois data, so proposing studies along those lines would be useful. Another suggestion was to conduct a study on the effects on crime prevention in country-code top-level domains that shield some contact data in order to protect the privacy rights of Internet users. In the comments, we want to discourage the GNSO from waiting for the outcomes of these studies before whois can be reformed, however.
- what do you think/know/sense that the Intellectual Property/ Business Constituencies want from this set of comments and will demand?
Thanks for the background and insight, and for all your efforts as our Council reps!
Kathy
Begin forwarded message:GNSO Council invites Recommendations for Future Studies on WHOISPublic comments are invited until 15 February 2008 on recommendationsfor future studies on the WHOIS system.Submit comments to: [log in to unmask]View comments at: http://forum.icann.org/lists/whois-comments-2008/BackgroundAt the 31 October meeting in Los Angeles, the Generic Names SupportingOrganization (GNSO) Council voted to conduct several studies of theWHOIS system, concluding that a comprehensive, objective andquantifiable understanding of key factual issues regarding the gTLDWHOIS system will benefit future GNSO policy development efforts.Before defining the details of these studies, the Council is solicitingsuggestions from the community for specific topics of study on WHOISthat community stakeholders recommend be conducted.Possible areas of study might include a study of certain aspects of gTLDregistrants and registrations, a study of certain uses and misuses ofWHOIS data, a study of the use of proxy registration services, includingprivacy services, or a comparative study of gTLD and ccTLD WHOIS.If you would like to offer suggestions about topics of study on WHOIS,please do so by completing the online form available by clicking on thefollowing link http://forms.icann.org/cgi/study-suggestions. Please submit a separate online form foreach study that you recommend should be conducted and answer allquestions with as much detail as possible. Please limit your onlineanswers to 1-2 paragraphs per question. Additional detail and anysupporting materials may be emailed to: [log in to unmask].You are also invited to comment on proposed studies that have alreadybeen posted. To do so please reference the specific proposal you arecommenting on. Lastly, you may also provide input via email, instead ofposting online via the form provided. To do so, please send email toMore information about policy activities related to WHOIS can be found--Glen de Saint GéryGNSO Secretariat - ICANNgnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org
IP JUSTICERobin Gross, Executive Director1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 USAp: +1-415-553-6261 f: +1-415-462-6451
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