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.
|
Purpose: This public comment proceeding is being
opened to obtain community input on the
Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP)
Operational Profile for gTLD ...
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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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