Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2016 16:37:49 -0500
From:
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Subject: Privacy and WHOIS update
To:
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This is just a quick note to update list members on what
is going on at ICANN related to privacy and protection of
registration data. The most important development which I
need to bring to your attention is the call for volunteers
for the new pdp to develop a replacement for the WHOIS
directory. I have copied the call at the bottom of this
email. Please consider joining, either as an observer or
full participant. If you have questions, please do not
hesitate to contact me, Tapani Tarvainen, or Kathy Kleiman
(in cc). We really need a great many people to volunteer
for this work, as it is extremely important, and there are
many commercial participants already signed up. It is
important to have balanced representation of interests on
these working groups.
Registrars and technical experts have expressed concern,
notably at the GNSO level, about the RDAP (registration
data access protocol) work that is proceeding even though
the work of the PDP on WHOIS replacement may make this
work irrelevant. It is likely a call to put the brakes on
that work may develop. For more information on the RDAP
implementation, look here:
https://www.icann.org/public-comments/rdap-profile-2015-12-03-en.
We will be putting in comments, due in 22 days.
The call for volunteers for the Competition and Consumer
Trust Review Team has resulted in the selection of the
team, listed here:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2-2015-12-23-en.
This is a very important review, and members may be
interested in following the work of this team. Further
information is available here
http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/reviews/cct
and members may be interested in looking at the public
opinion survey done by Nielsen in 2015, as it will no
doubt be important for the work of the committee, and be
considered in the context of the the two studies of DNS
abuse for which ICANN is currently tendering.
The Final report and recommendations of the Privacy Proxy
Working Group has been sent to the GNSO for its
endorsement, and will be discussed at the Marrakech
meeting in March. We expect to see a call for volunteers
for the implementation working group shortly.
Finally, we are proposing to have a privacy meeting in
Marrakech, although we have yet to hear whether this
proposal has been approved. Stay tuned, and please join
us for the next monthly discussion on January 19th.
Stephanie Perrin
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https://www.icann.org/news/announcements
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Call for Volunteers: New GNSO Policy
Development Process (PDP) Working Group to
Establish a Policy Framework for a Next-Generation
gTLD Registration Directory Service to Replace
WHOIS (Next-Gen RDS)
-
How to Join
- If you are interested in joining the WG as an
individual participant or mailing list observer,
please fill in the sign up form or send the Word document [DOCX, 72 KB]
filled in to the GNSO Secretariat
- All members and observers will be listed on the PDP
WG's wiki page.
-
In Brief
The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)
Council seeks volunteers to serve on a PDP Working
Group to establish a policy framework for a
next-generation gTLD Registration Directory Service
(RDS) to replace WHOIS (Next-Gen RDS). The GNSO
Council approved
the WG's charter on 19 November 2015, tasking
this PDP to address concerns with WHOIS by creating a
new policy framework capable of balancing diverse
interests to meet today's needs for gTLD registration
data.
- What This Team Will Do
The PDP WG will use a 3-phase process defined in the approved charterto (1) establish
gTLD registration data requirements to determine if
and why a next-generation RDS is needed, (2) design
policies that detail functions that must be provided
by a next-generation RDS to support those
requirements, and (3) provide guidance for how a
next-generation RDS should implement those policies,
coexisting with and eventually replacing WHOIS.
- This PDP WG will provide the GNSO Council with
policy recommendations regarding the issues identified
in the Final Issue Report [PDF, 1.4 MB]
and as defined in the charter approved by the GNSO Council
[PDF, 628 KB]. Specifically, this PDP WG is tasked
with analyzing the purpose of collecting, maintaining
and providing access to gTLD registration data and
considering safeguards for protecting that data,
determining if and why a next-generation RDS is needed
to replace WHOIS, and creating policies and
coexistence and implementation guidance to meet those
needs.
- During the first phase of this PDP, the PDP WG will,
at a minimum, attempt to reach consensus
recommendations regarding the questions detailed in
the PDP WG’s charter. The PDP WG’s output will
then be submitted to the GNSO Council for approval of
its recommendations regarding IF and WHY a
next-generation RDS is needed to replace WHOIS before
moving to the next phase. If the WG concludes a new
policy framework is needed, this output should include
requirements to be addressed by that new framework and
any next-generation RDS. However, if the WG concludes
the existing WHOIS system can adequately address
requirements, the WG’s output should confirm this
and identify any necessary changes to the WHOIS policy
framework.
- After Phase 1, if the GNSO Council confirms that a
new policy framework and next-generation RDS are
required, the PDP WG will then proceed to Phases 2 and
3, recommending a new consensus policy framework to
satisfy requirements for a next-generation RDS
established in Phase 1, along with any necessary
coexistence and implementation guidance. Further
detail regarding this 3-phase process and questions to
be considered can be found in the PDP WG’s charter.
How This Team Will Work
ICANN WGs use transparent, open processes. The
meetings of this PDP WG will be recorded, and the
recordings will be available to the public. The
mailing list for the PDP WG will be archived publicly.
The group will collaborate using a public workspace
for draft materials and all final work products and
milestones will be documented on the WG's wiki. The PDP WG is
expected to follow the GNSO Working Group Guidelines
[PDF, 350 KB] as well as the GNSO PDP Manual.
How to participate
There are two ways to volunteer:
- Individual Members – anyone interested cann
volunteer to join the PDP WG as a WG member,
regardless of whether they are members of the ICANN
community. Members are expected to actively contribute
to mailing list conversations as well as meetings – it
is anticipated tthat the PDP WG will at a minimum meet
on a weekly basis via teleconference. Members are
expected to provide essential input to the process.
Members will be required to provide a Statement of
Interest (SOI).
- Mailing list observers – for those who are merely
interested in monitoring thhe WG’s conversations,
there is the possibility to sign up as a mailing list
"observer" which offers read-only access to the
mailing list. Mailing list observers will not be
permitted to post, will not receive invitations to the
various meetings or calls of the WG and will not have
to complete a Statement of Interest. At any point in
time, a mailing list observer can join the WG as a
member simply by informing the GNSO Secretariat.
- In addition, there will be opportunities to provide
input through public consultations and public comment
processes that the PDP WG is expected to organize.
How to Join
If you are interested in joining the WG as an
individual participant or mailing list observer,
please fill in the sign up form or send the Word document [DOCX, 72 KB]
filled in to the GNSO Secretariat
- All members and observers will be listed on the PDP
WG's wiki page.
Next steps
In its motion, the GNSO Council directed that this
call for volunteers be circulated as widely as
possible in order to ensure broad representation and
participation in the WG. This call will remain open
until the WG convenes for the first time. At this
juncture, it is anticipated that the PDP WG may
convene online in late January 2015. Following that,
regular online meetings will be scheduled in
accordance with the PDP WG’s work plan, which it is
expected to develop as one of its first tasks.
Further information and preparation
- For those interested in volunteering for this
effort, you are strongly encouraged to review the
following materials prior to the first meeting of the
PDP WG:
- The Final Issue Report
- The approved charter
- Materials available at the PDP WG's wiki such as the EWG Final
Report and other relevant information.
-
Background
Created in the 1980s, WHOIS began as a service to
identify and contact entities responsible for the
operation of a network resource on the Internet. Over
the years, ICANN's requirements for gTLD domain name
registration data collection, access and accuracy have
undergone some important changes. Yet, after nearly 15
years of task forces, review teams, and studies,
comprehensive WHOIS policy reform remains the source
of long-running discussion and debate.
- In 2012, the ICANN Board launched the Expert Working
Group on gTLD Registration Directory Services (EWG) to
help redefine the purpose of gTLD registration data
and consider how to safeguard the data, and to propose
a model for gTLD registration directory services (RDS)
to address accuracy, privacy, and access issues.
- Upon publication of the EWG's Final Report in June,
2014, an informal group of GNSO Councilors and ICANN
Board Members collaborated to propose a Process
Framework for structuring a GNSO PDP to successfully
address these challenging issues. This Process
Framework was adopted by the Board in 2015, along with
a reaffirmation of its 2012 request for a PDP to be
convened to define the purpose of collecting,
maintaining and providing access to gTLD registration
data. The Board also asked that the PDP consider
safeguards for protecting data, using the
recommendations in the EWG's Final Report as an input
to, and, if appropriate, as the foundation for a new
gTLD policy.
- In preparation for this PDP, a new Preliminary Issue Report [PDF,
1.4 MB] was published for public comment on 13 July 2015.
A Final Issue Report [PDF, 1.2 MB]
was subsequently published on 7 October 2015,
including links to all public comments received, along
with a draft charter for the PDP WG. This draft
charter was approved by the GNSO Council on 19 November 2015, enabling the
formation of a GNSO working group of community
volunteers to progress this PDP.
- More information can be found on the GNSO PDP on Next-Generation gTLD
Registration Directory Service (RDS) page and
the WG's wiki, including the WG's
charter, inputs already provided by all SG/Cs during
the public comment period, and an extensive library of
foundational materials to inform the WG's
deliberations. In addition, the WG will reach out to
all SG/Cs for feedback on any items that they believe
should be considered that may not have been
specifically called out in the approved charter.
- As this will be a complex multi-phase PDP, all those
interested in helping to shape the policy framework
for a next-generation gTLD RDS are encouraged to
volunteer for this WG. Only with the help of the
entire community can this WG achieve its goal of
formally defining an appropriate purpose of gTLD
registration data and establishing a new policy
framework to enable permissible access to that data
with improved privacy and accuracy.
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