[bc-gnso] ALERTS From the Secretariat: Call for Volunteers: Fake Renewal Notices Drafting Team

[Benedetta Rossi <bc-secretariat@xxxxxxxxx>]

 Call for Volunteers: Fake Renewal Notices Drafting Team


   In Brief

The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council seeks 
volunteers to serve on a drafting team that will prepare a request for 
information on Fake Renewal Notices, work with the Registrar Stakeholder 
Group to obtain the information requested and report back to the GNSO 
Council.

   What This Group Will Do

The GNSO Council resolved at its meeting on 6 October in response to one 
of the recommendations of the Registration Abuse Policies Working Group 
that 'additional information is needed from the Registrar Stakeholder 
Group with regard to the conditional [RAP WG] Fake Renewal Notices 
recommendation #2 before an Issue Report should be requested of Staff. 
The GNSO Council hereby requests that the Registrar Stakeholder Group 
provide further information and data on the nature and scope of the 
issue of Fake Renewal Notices to help inform the GNSO Council's and its 
RAP WG deliberations on whether an Issue Report should be requested. A 
small group of volunteers consisting of registrar representatives and 
others interested (including former RAP WG members) should be formed to 
prepare such a request, work with the Registrar Stakeholder Group to 
obtain the information requested and report back to the GNSO Council 
accordingly'.

   How This Group Will Work

ICANN Working Groups use transparent, open processes. The meetings of 
this Drafting Team (DT) will be recorded, and the recordings will be 
available to the public. The mailing list for the DT will be archived 
publicly. DT members are expected to submit Statements of Interest 
(SOI). The group will collaborate using a public workspace. The DT is 
expected to follow theGNSO Working Group Guidelines 
<http://gnso.icann.org/council/annex-1-gnso-wg-guidelines-07apr11-en.pdf>.

   How to Join

The Council invites interested parties to provide names of expected 
participants who can then be added to the DT mailing list. The GNSO 
Council may also invite stakeholders and experts to join. Community 
members who wish to be invited to join the group should contact theGNSO 
secretariat 
<mailto:gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxx?subject=Application%20to%20Join%20IRTP%20Part%20C%20Working%20Group>(gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxx).

   Background

> From theRegistration Abuse Policies Final Report 
<http://gnso.icann.org/issues/rap/rap-wg-final-report-29may10-en.pdf>: 
'Fake renewal notices are misleading correspondence sent to registrants 
from an individual or organization claiming to be or to represent the 
current registrar. These are sent for a variety of deceptive purposes. 
The desired action as a result of the deceptive notification is:
 * Pay an unnecessary fee (fraud)
 * Get a registrant to switch registrars unnecessarily ("slamming", or
   illegitimate market-based switching)
 * Reveal credentials or provide authorization codes to facilitate
   theft of the domain'

As a result, the RAP Working Group recommended, following obtaining 
further information from ICANN's Compliance Department, that the GNSO 
Council consider requesting an Issue Report on this issue. However, 
after review of the information received from the ICANN Compliance 
Department 
(seehttp://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/council/msg10766.html) 
and further discussions on this issue (see for 
examplehttp://singapore41.icann.org/meetings/singapore2011/transcript-rap-18jun11-en.pdf), 
the GNSO Council determined that further information would be desirable 
before deciding whether or not to request an Issue Report.
--
Kind Regards,

Benedetta Rossi
BC Secretariat
www.bizconst.org
bc-secretariat@xxxxxxxxx