I meant to also thank Liz for
drafting this letter.
Chuck
From:
owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf
Of Gomes, Chuck
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 9:39 AM
To: council@gnso.icann.org
Subject: [council] FW: Request for feedback on GNSO Whois Studies
Importance: High
In follow-up to an action item
from our Brussels meeting, I just sent this letter to Heather Dryden, Interim
GAC Chair requesting input regarding Whois Studies.
Chuck
From: Gomes, Chuck
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 9:37 AM
To: ' (Heather.Dryden@ic.gc.ca)'
Subject: Request for feedback on GNSO Whois Studies
Importance: High
Heather,
I hope that your flight
home from Brussels went well. I want to once again congratulate you on your
election as Interim GAC Chair and also say that I sincerely enjoyed
having some time to interact with you at the chairs dinner hosted by Rod.
Pasted below and attached
is a letter requesting feedback from the GAC or from GAC representatives in
their personal capacity regarding the GNSO Council’s upcoming selection of Whois
Studies to pursue in ICANN’s FY11. Anything you can do to facilitate this
would be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Chuck Gomes
6 July 2010
Ms. Heather Dryden
Interim Chair
ICANN Government Advisory
Committee
Dear Heather,
The GNSO Council is currently
discussing which of several proposed WHOIS studies to initiate, and we would
very much welcome input from the GAC as we consider this matter. As the
GAC well appreciates, the Council is assessing which studies might be the most
useful in providing a factual basis for further policy making on WHOIS. The FY
2011 budget which was approved by the ICANN Board in Brussels includes over
$400,000 in funding for WHOIS studies. The GNSO has identified four key
study areas as top priorities for consideration (combining a number of
suggestions made by the GAC and others in 2008). Staff is in the process
of providing a cost and feasibility analysis for all four study areas and,
while not all costing information is available yet (see short descriptions and
status below), we are at the stage where we hope to make some initial decisions
on the first two study areas noting that more information will be forthcoming
on the last two areas in the coming weeks.
Following is a summary of the
options we are considering. Staff’s initial analysis to-date can be found
here.
A chart displaying all the study options (and a cross reference to the original
GAC proposals of April 2008) is attached. Please note that
the first three proposed WHOIS study areas contain many elements originally
suggested by the GAC.
1.
WHOIS Misuse – These studies will assess the extent,
nature, and impact of WHOIS public data misuse (i.e., harmful actions like
spam, phishing, and identity theft taken using WHOIS contact
information). Two types of studies would be conducted. One is
referred to as an “experimental” study, which would register test domains and
measure harmful messages resulting from misuse. The other is a
“descriptive” study of misuse incidents reported by registrants, researchers,
law enforcement and others. See detailed Terms of Reference for the Misuse
studies here. Estimated cost to conduct:
$150,000 USD.
2.
WHOIS Registrant
Identification – This study will explore
WHOIS data and the extent to which domains used by legal persons (commercial
entities) or for commercial purposes are: 1) not clearly identified as such in
WHOIS (e.g., user's identity is obscured or implies non-commercial use); and 2)
will correlate that information with use of Privacy and Proxy services.
See detailed Terms of Reference for the Registrant Identification study here. Estimated cost to conduct:
$150,000 USD.
3.
WHOIS Privacy and
Proxy Abuse -- This study will look at
the extent to which domain names used to conduct illegal or harmful Internet
activities are registered via Privacy and Proxy services. An RFP to solicit
costs and feasibility information was published on 18 May 2010, responses from
independent researchers are due by 20 July 2010. Staff analysis to
follow. See Terms of Reference and more information here.
4.
WHOIS Privacy and
Proxy Reveal – This study will consider
the degree to which Privacy and Proxy registrant reveal handling impedes timely
identification of parties allegedly involved in illegal or harmful activities.
Development of study terms of reference is underway and staff hopes to publish
an RFP in the late-July-August time frame.
Staff is also completing a
separate “Inventory
of WHOIS Service Requirements” that was also requested by the GNSO Council
last year. This “study” is a technical compendium of current WHOIS
service requirements and potential “requirements” that have been suggested in
past policy discussions. The GNSO Council will also be discussing how
this information may also be useful, and GAC input on this related report would
be of value.
Again, we welcome your input.
Recognizing that specific studies may take a year or more to complete and that
the FY11 funds are available now, the GNSO Council will be trying to identify
which studies to pursue in the next month or so. Therefore, timely GAC
input, if possible, would be very much appreciated. Even input from one
or more individual GAC members who are especially attuned to WHOIS studies,
speaking in their personal capacities, would be welcome. Liz Gasster of
the policy staff is available to provide further information and answer
questions that may arise. More information about background work on WHOIS
may be found here.
Chuck Gomes
Chair, GNSO Council