[To: council@gnso.icann.org] Please note: http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-12feb10-en.htm Public Comment: Registration Abuse Addressed Registration Abuse Policies Working Group Publishes Initial Report 12 February 2010 The Registration Abuse Policies Working Group has published its Initial Report today. The Report includes concrete recommendations to address domain name registration abuse in gTLDs for Community consideration and input. Included are recommendations related to: Cybersquatting: recommending the initiation of a Policy Development Process to investigate the current state of the UDRP. Whois access problems: seeking ways to ensure that WHOIS data is accessible in an appropriately reliable, enforceable, and consistent fashion; and requesting that the ICANN Compliance Department publish data about WHOIS accessibility. Malicious use of domain names: recommending the creation of best practices to help registrars and registries address the illicit use of domain names. Front-running: recommending possible enforcement actions by ICANN Compliance Fake renewal notices Domain kiting Deceptive and/or offensive domain names Uniformity of contracts: recommending the creation of an Issues Report to evaluate whether a minimum baseline of registration abuse provisions should be created for all in-scope ICANN agreements. GNSO-wide practices for the collection and dissemination of best practices, and for uniformity of reporting. At the same time, a public comment period has been opened to allow for Community input and feedback on the report and its recommendation (to submit comments, please go to: rap-initial-report@icann.org). Comments can be submitted until 28 March 2010. Furthermore, the Working Group will be organizing a public information session at the ICANN Meeting in Nairobi. After reviewing and analyzing the public comments received, the Working Group will finalize the report and submit it to the Generic Names Supporting Organisation (GNSO) for its consideration. Background On 25 September 2008, the GNSO Council adopted a motion requesting an issues report on registration abuse provisions in registry-registrar agreements. The issues report was submitted to the GNSO Council on 29 October 2008 and provides an overview of existing provisions in registry-registrar agreements relating to abuse and includes a number of recommended next steps. In December 2009, the GNSO Council agreed to charter a Working Group to investigate the open issues identified in Registration Abuse Policies report, before deciding on whether or not to initiate a Policy Development Process (PDP). A Registration Abuse Policies Working Group (RAPWG) was chartered in February 2009. The GNSO Council committed to not making a decision on whether or not to initiate a PDP on registration abuse policies until the RAPWG has presented its findings. Further information Registration Abuse Policies Working Group Initial Report - http://gnso.icann.org/issues/rap-wg-initial-report-12feb10-en.pdf [PDF, 1.8 MB] Registration Abuse Policies Workspace - https://st.icann.org/reg-abuse-wg/ ICANN Meeting in Nairobi - http://nbo.icann.org/ Public Comment Forum - http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/#rap-initial-report Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org