[bc-gnso] ICANN Board Addresses WHOIS

[Marilyn Cade <marilynscade@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

PLEASE NOTE THE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM ICANN BOARD. I will be announcing further 
details on the Experts Group, as they are provided to Chairs by ICANN staff. 
Your comments are invited to bc-gnso list. Marilyn Cade, BC Chair

ICANN Board Addresses WHOIS
        
        19 November 2012
        For Immediate Release
        ICANN Board Launches New Effort to Tackle gTLD Registration Data 
Challenges Based on Policy Review Team Report 
        Approved resolution also reconfirms full support for 
        Enforcement of WHOIS policy and obligations
        Los Angeles, California…  The ICANN Board of Directors has directed the 
Chief Executive Officer to launch a new effort to re-examine the purpose of 
collecting, maintaining and providing access to generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) 
registration data. The move follows the recommendations of a review team that 
examined implementation of WHOIS data policy.
        WHOIS is a listing of domain registrants and their contact information.
        “WHOIS began more than 25 years ago, before there was even a World Wide 
Web and its purpose was far more technical than it is today,” said Dr. Stephen 
D. Crocker, ICANN Board Chair. “It’s clear that we have to take a thorough look 
at WHOIS from the ground up, and that’s what we’re asking the CEO to do - what 
should WHOIS be and how can we best improve its accuracy?”
        The Board tasked the CEO to go beyond the existing WHOIS protocol and 
start a new initiative focused on directory services. In response CEO Fadi 
Chehadé will convene an expert working group to help lay the foundation for new 
policy development work.
        The Board resolution also directs the CEO to continue to fully enforce 
the contractual conditions that relate to the current collection, access and 
accuracy of gTLD registration data, and increase efforts to communicate and 
conduct outreach ensuring compliance with existing WHOIS policy and conditions. 
 
        “It’s basically a two-track approach,” said Crocker. “In addition to a 
full examination of WHOIS, the Board wants to make certain that enforcement of 
existing WHOIS reporting requirements is strengthened in conformance with the 
Affirmation of Commitments and the recommendations of the WHOIS Review Team.”
        The Affirmation of Commitments (AoC) is an agreement signed by ICANN 
and the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2009 that, among other things, commits 
ICANN to enforcing existing policies relating to WHOIS.
        ##
        To read the Board resolution on WHOIS, go here: 
http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/documents/resolutions-08nov12-en.htm#1
        To read the report of the WHOIS Policy Review Team, go here:   
http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/documents/briefing-materials-1-08nov12-en.pdf
        MEDIA CONTACTS:                        
        Brad White
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        Washington, DC, USA
        Tel. +1 202.570.7118
        brad.white@xxxxxxxxx
         
        Andrew Robertson
        Edelman Public Relations
        London, U.K.
        Tel. + 44 (7811) 341 945
        andrew.Robertson@xxxxxxxxxxx
        About ICANN: ICANN’s mission is to ensure a stable, secure and unified 
global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an 
address into your computer - a name or a number. That address has to be unique 
so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique 
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