Steve, all

Thanks so much for this. Rolling together points 4 (impact of COVID-19) and 5 (work plan) of our agenda for tomorrow, some thoughts I’d like to put on the table:

· One huge, practical impact of this virus that all of us in the DNS world are facing is the massive uptick in criminals and fraudsters preying on people’s fears by offering online fake (or plain non-existent) safety equipment and tests, and rolling out massive phishing and malware attacks. We’ve all seen the reports – e.g. from Europol – and all of the work that Goran references in his blog post (thanks to the Registrars for the their prompt action here). However, all of us involved in combating all forms of online crime and deception have a massive practical hurdle: we don’t know who owns the domains promulgating this insidious content.

· Even the briefest look at the recent findings of the security research-focused Interisle Consulting Group illuminates the basic fact: the inability to access WHOIS data (adding in the well-documented problems of inaccuracy and non-transparent privacy and proxy info) means that all public and private actors fighting this online evil are doing so with their hands tied behind their backs. This excellent, albeit terrifying, article from CircleID sets out the pressing need for compliance and action.

· Put bluntly, we need to do something – and now. 

· Punting the essential issues of data accuracy and legal vs natural data from the EPDP to some unknown future date is unconscionable in the current climate. We need accurate data. The GDPR does not apply to legal persons’ data. We agree with the GAC: pushing for the artificial deadline of June to wrap up the EPDP is untenable and would jeopardise the legitimacy of the entire EPDP process. The agreement made during Phase 1 was a compromise: that accuracy and legal vs natural would be fully discussed and debated during Phase 2. Discarding that compromise and kicking these issues into the long grass just cannot happen. As Council, we have a (moral) duty to put these issues at the very top of our priority list.

· We also need the PPSAI to be implemented as soon as possible.

I’m looking forward to talking to you all tomorrow; I do miss talking to people.

Please stay safe, dear colleagues,

Marie

From: council <council-bounces@gnso.icann.org> On Behalf Of Steve Chan
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 5:36 PM
To: council@gnso.icann.org
Subject: [council] GNSO Council Draft Work Plan for Agenda Item 5 on the April Meeting

Dear Councilors,

In support of agenda item 5 (COUNCIL DISCUSSION – GNSO Work Prioritization - 2020 Work Plan / Impact From Coronavirus) for the upcoming Council meeting, staff has worked with Council leadership to prepare the attached draft work plan. When this topic was first discussed in detail at the January Strategic Planning Session, the focus was more on prioritizing (i.e., establishing an order for) the Council’s anticipated work. However, it became apparent that trying to simply create a ranked list lacked nuance and was too dependent on the varying levels of importance for the various Stakeholder Groups and Constituencies.

The attached draft work plan considers the sense of urgency (e.g., impact from not beginning the work), resources (staff/community), possible timing/dependencies, and whether there are discrete preparatory parts of the work that can be carved out and started earlier. Taking those elements into consideration, you will find relatively detailed analysis for each of the potential projects. In addition, there are a set of assumptions on the first page and a high-level summary graphic on page two.

If you have any questions in advance of the meeting, please let us know.  

Best,

Steve

Steven Chan


Policy Director, GNSO Support

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 

12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300

Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536


Email: steve.chan@icann.org

Skype: steve.chan55

Mobile: +1.310.339.4410

Find out more about the GNSO by visiting: https://learn.icann.org/

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Transcripts and recordings of GNSO Working Group and Council events are located on the GNSO Master Calendar