Hello, everyone... A little while ago I had a conversation with Dave Piscitello of the SSAC and Nick Ashton-Hart. The substance of the conversation was, what could WebWatch do, and/or what could be done in general, to connect consumers to some of the ICANN discussions about security and stability issues. As you know, one of the issues I am trying to confront is how to interest and educate consumers about the work ICANN is doing and what its role in Internet governance is, while trying to represent their interests as best and appropriately as possible. The conversation was to determine if there are studies WebWatch might undertake in the area of consumer protection and domain names. We also talked about some of the work SSAC is doing with the Anti-Phishing Working Group and discussed the possibility of convening some people from these groups in Los Angeles. We're also trying to address questions like, if consumers knew more about things like DNSSEC and signed domains and the like (and their cost), would consumers want to somehow pay to participate in an Internet with more secure domain names? I've also begun talking with Nick about some possibilities for consumer education, that would include creating some consumer-friendly content. Would be happy to hear your comments about this and other security issues. As soon as a public version of the SSAC August report is available we can post it here. Regards, Beau Brendler, Director Consumer Reports WebWatch http://www.consumerwebwatch.org