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 Heather.Dryden@ic.gc.ca 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 <http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois/whois-studies-report-for-gnso-23mar1 0-en.pdf> . 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 <http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois/tor-whois-misuse-studies-25sep09-en. pdf> . 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 <http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois/tor-whois-registrant-identification- studies-23oct09-en.pdf> . 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 <http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-18may10-en.htm> . 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 <http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois/whois-service-requirements-draft-fin al-report-31may10-en.pdf> " 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 <http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois/> . Chuck Gomes Chair, GNSO Council