[bc-gnso] ALERTS from the Secretariat: NORC at the University of Chicago Selected to Conduct a gTLD Whois Registrant Identification Study

[Benedetta Rossi <secretariat-bc@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://blog.icann.org/2011/09/norc-at-the-university-of-chicago-selected-to-conduct-a-gtld-whois-registrant-identification-study/NORC
 at the University of Chicago Selected to Conduct a gTLD Whois Registrant 
Identification Studyby LIZ GASSTER on SEPTEMBER 28, 2011I am delighted to 
report that ICANN has engaged NORC at the University of Chicago to conduct a 
gTLD Whois Registrant Identification study, seeking a foundational 
understanding of the types of entities and kinds of potentially commercial 
activities observed among gTLD domain names.NORC intends to use Whois 
Registrant contact data to classify the kinds of entities that register a 
representative sample of gTLD domain names, including natural persons, legal 
persons and Privacy or Proxy service providers. NORC will then analyze Internet 
content associated with each sampled domain to classify the entities that 
appear to be using those domains, along with any observable potentially 
commercial activities. Draft study results are expected to be published in 
mid-2012.Entity and activity classifications are not predefined but will be 
developed during the study, based on sampled data, to help the Generic Names 
Supporting Organization (GNSO) and ICANN community better understand the 
variety of possible correlations that may emerge. ICANN looks forward to 
working with NORC to publish statistics that describe how various gTLD 
Registrants identify themselves, in order to inform future gTLD Whois policy 
discussions.To learn more about the Whois Registrant Identification Study or 
other studies now being conducted at the request of the GNSO Council, please 
visithttp://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois/.

Kind Regards,

Benedetta Rossi
BC Secretariatwww.bizconst.orgsecretariat-bc@xxxxxxxxxxx