All, At the GNSO Council meeting held on 2 November in Cairo, the Council decided that it would be helpful to develop "working definitions" of several terms that are being used in the context of Council discussions of possible future studies of WHOIS. At the meeting, Council members identified the following eight terms and asked staff to develop initial working definitions that the Council could use as a starting point for further discussion and definition. Before developing an initial draft I would like to invite all interested parties to send your ideas and suggestions for working definitions of these terms to me at policy-staff@icann.org<mailto:policy-staff@icann.org>. For this initial effort, ideas and suggestions are requested by close-of-business 9 December 2008. Again, your input will help me offer a well-informed starting point. Your further input and ideas (beyond this initial deadline) will also be most welcome as the broader discussion continues. The eight terms identified as needing working definitions are as follows: · Undesirable content · Misuse · Commercial purpose · Proxy and privacy services · Relay information requests · Falsify Whois data · Natural persons · Adequate protective measures These terms are used by various community members in recommending testable hypotheses that the Council should consider for further study. The full list of study proposals may be found at: http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois/whois-study-hypothesis-group-report-to-co.... You are also invited to identify any other terms relevant to these proposed studies that you think also call for working definitions that should be developed as a part of this process. Please forward any additional terms you identify to me at policy-staff@icann.org<mailto:policy-staff@icann.org>. Thanks, Liz Gasster