Like Beau, I was part of this group as well, and also did not participate in the hypothesis phase -- but for a different reason. Seven years ago I was part of a GNSO working group that spent over a full year working on a comprehensive WHOIS survey; over 3000 respondents and an 88-page final report... and guess what... almost nobody read the report. Similarly, the SSAC recently released an accuracy study of 4444 registrations (cited in SAC 033: Domain Name Registration Information and Directory Services) and you can probably guess how many GAC members have read that particular report -- probably none. Bottom line. I'm part of the contingent that believes that further WHOIS studies are a total waste of time. We don't need further studies to tell us that which is self-evident. We're not idiots. We all can see what is going on. We, in this ICANN community, are the experts on this topic and certainly don't need to pay others to investigate that which is glaringly obvious. What we have here is nothing more than a stalling tactic. When a group wants to prevent a change in policy it tries to push initiatives back to a committee, it tries to push for studies, for surveys, for any course of action that has the effect of derailing or sidelining the policy development process... and they already know that either no one is going to read these studies or surveys or that they will always be able to spin any results with which they disagree anyway. My view on WHOIS: When most of you go to register your motor vehicle you have two registration choices, either a commercial vehicle registration or a non-commercial vehicle registration. In both cases the data is always readily available to law enforcement agencies. If you select the commercial registration you will be required to display accurate contact information on the body of your vehicle: Joe's Trucking Inc. 123 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10018 If you select the non-commercial option no such display is mandated. This system balances privacy with the need to know how to contact those engaged in commercial endeavors. I believe in requiring anyone engaged in commerce on the internet to display their contact details; I also believe that those not engaged in commercial transactions should be afforded a modicum of privacy (as long as law enforcement always has ready access to contact details if and when required and as permitted under law). The motion that this Hypothesis Group will field to the Council reads as follows: * Council representatives are asked to forward the report to their respective constituencies ASAP for discussion and comment as applicable and be prepared to develop a proposed list, if any, of recommended studies for which ICANN staff will be asked to prepare cost estimates to the Council in the Council meeting on 25 September 2008. I would advise that the ALAC liaison recommend that no further studies be pursued (as it's a total waste of time) and that instead each GNSO constituency be required to submit a WHOIS proposal for evaluation that in some fashion attends to the privacy concerns that have been expressed by the user community. Out of the six competing constituency proposals we will doubtless find one that has the potential to be tweaked to everyone's satisfaction. --- On Wed, 8/27/08, Brendler, Beau <Brenbe@consumer.org> wrote:
From: Brendler, Beau <Brenbe@consumer.org> Subject: Re: [NA-Discuss] Report of the WHOIS Study Hypothesis Group attached To: "ALAC Working List" <alac@atlarge-lists.icann.org>, "whois-wg@atlarge-lists.icann.org" <whois-wg@atlarge-lists.icann.org> Cc: "NA Discuss" <na-discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org> Date: Wednesday, August 27, 2008, 11:22 AM Since I was a part of this group (contributing to its earlier incarnation, but not to the "hypotheses" phase that began June 25 or so), I'd like to volunteer to help facilitate discussion and comment within ALAC. Some of the GAC hypotheses mirror what I believe are user community concerns/perceptions of WHOIS.
I think the ALAC should review the whole document, but at minimum focus on what the GAC has put forward. Even if the ALAC can't agree, the user community's voice needs to be heard on this issue.
For additional perspective I have attached the final version (in its entirety, no longer preliminary) of the New York state study we conducted that I presented to the ALAC in Paris, including the questions on WHOIS and other ICANN issues (grouped towards the end). The study is statistically significant for New York state only, but I believe the results should encourage us to look beyond the traditional "privacy vs. law enforcement" deadlock.
Please do not distribute any of this data outside these groups, as we are planning to release it to the press as part of an anti-fraud campaign in Sept., Oct. and November.
BB
-----Original Message----- From: at-large-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org [mailto:at-large-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org] On Behalf Of Nick Ashton-Hart Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 3:02 AM To: whois-wg@atlarge-lists.icann.org Cc: at-large@atlarge-lists.icann.org Subject: [At-Large] FW: Report of the WHOIS Study Hypothesis Group attached
Dear Working Group Members and At-Large Community Members:
Attached please find the report of the WHOIS Study Hypothesis Group to the GNSO Council as requested by the Council in its resolution of 26 June 2008.
--
Regards,
Nick Ashton-Hart Director for At-Large Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Main Tel: +33 (450) 40 46 88 USA DD: +1 (310) 578-8637 Fax: +41 (22) 594-85-44 Mobile: +41 (79) 595 54-68 email: nick.ashton-hart@icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart@hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart@mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart
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