Dear Thick IRT, Forwarding an email from Karla regarding Versign’s request for extension of the 1 August 2017. Thanks Dennis Chang From: Karla Hakansson <karla.hakansson@icann.org> Date: Saturday, June 24, 2017 at 4:13 PM To: Dennis Chang <dennis.chang@icann.org> Cc: Cyrus Namazi <cyrus.namazi@icann.org> Subject: Verisign request to extend Thick Whois Implementation Date Hello Dennis, Please communicate the following update to the Thick Whois IRT: In the process of implementing the Thick Whois Policy for .com and .net, Verisign proposed certain Amendments to the COM/NET Registry Registrar Agreement (RRA) to fulfill their obligation to begin accepting Thick Whois data from the registrars beginning 1 August 2017. Per the published process<https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/rra-amendment-procedure-25aug11-...>, ICANN forwarded the proposed RRA Amendments to the Registrar Stakeholder Group (RrSG) on 29 March 2017 to review and provide comments. On 21 April 2017 the RrSG formally objected to the proposed Amendment stating: “…the .com/.net amendments have raised serious questions in the RrSG around how we'll operate and interact with .com/.net under the upcoming European GDPR, and we feel we need clarity on these issues before the amendments can be accepted. Indeed, the RrSG is now looking towards the impact of the GDPR on the 1000s of registries we regularly work with, and it's clear that we need to ensure we have more clarity and understanding, as well as a solution for data handling that will work across ALL registries.” Following this communication, the RrSG submitted a letter to ICANN and Verisign on 4 May 2017 requesting Verisign to modify its proposed Amendment, and for ICANN to create a data protection policy in support of the RAA for both registries and registrars. Since the 4 May 2017 communication ICANN has facilitated multiple discussions between Verisign and the RrSG in an attempt to resolve the outstanding issues with the RRA Amendments. The goal of those discussions has been to resolve the concerns about the proposed RRA Amendments so they can be in place by 1 July 2017. This deadline is imposed by Verisign to provide registrars with a thirty-day period in order for changes to the RRA to become effective before Verisign begins accepting Thick Whois data in their production environment. As of 21 June 2017, the RRA Amendment has not been accepted by the RrSG. ICANN strives for consensus whenever possible before approving RRA amendments, and without further discussions, is not prepared to approve an RRA amendment that the RrSG has rejected. On 20 June 2017 Verisign formally submitted a request to ICANN<https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/correspondence> to extend the 1 August 2017 Thick Whois implementation enforcement date by at least 120 days, or 29 November 2017. The extension request, currently under review, is not expected to compromise the 1 May 2018 Thick Whois deadline for all new .COM and .NET registrations or the 1 February 2019 deadline for the completion of the Thick Whois transition. Please let me know if you have any questions. Karla Hakansson Director, Registry Services ICANN – Global Domains Division (e) Karla.hakansson@icann.org<mailto:Karla.hakansson@icann.org> (t) +1.310.699.5834 (s) karlahakansson 12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300 Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536 www.icann.org<http://www.icann.org/>