Re: [gnso-raa-dt] Expected staff inputs to RAA Working Group

[Konstantinos Komaitis <k.komaitis@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Doug,

Thank you very much for your email ­ this is a very good starting point for
us to work on. The issue of a charter for registrants is very important and
a necessary component of the ICANN policy. may I also suggest we add issues
concerning registrants¹ fair use of a domain name and how to address them
within the charter?

Thank you.

Best

Konstantinos


On 23/10/2009 11:57, "Doug Brent" <doug.brent@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Dear RAA Working Group members,
> I know you will continue your work during ICANN's Seoul meeting, considering
> possible future changes to the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) and
> development of a proposed Registrant Rights Charter. This work is of
> significant interest to many stakeholders - Registrars, Intellectual Property
> interests, At Large, and others - all in the interest of effective protection
> of and service to registrants.
> There is another important view for consideration in this discussion: that is
> from the perspective of the execution/enforcement of the RAA through ICANN's
> contractual compliance work. Why?
> *  Future RAA changes should consider aspects of the existing RAA that are
> hard to enforce, or for which there are significant mismatches between
> community expectations and actual enforcement provisions and tools.
> * RAA provisions should define practices that are efficiently enforceable.
> Some of the existing provisions are expensive and time consuming to execute
> for both ICANN (inefficiently spending registrants' money), and for
> Registrars. 
> *  On a daily basis, staff compliance work is either aided or frustrated by
> clear, enforceable language.
> Immediately after the Seoul meeting, staff will provide the working group with
> a set of notes outlining areas of potential concerns, and offer some possible
> implementation options for those areas of concern for community consideration.
> The primary reason for providing these implementation options is to ensure
> that there is at least an "existence proof" of a possible solution. Staff is
> not saying that these concerns are certainly of most importance to the
> community, or that the solutions are right. Staff is simply trying to offer
> you an actionable set of suggestions for your consideration, based on
> day-to-day experience in enforcement/compliance.
> Staff notes will address the following possible areas of concern:
> * Cybersquatting: Explicitly tackle the issue of possible cybersquatting by
> Registrars, suggesting that cybersquatting be considered a violation of the
> RAA. 
> * Malicious Conduct: Establish requirements for Registrars to investigate and
> report out on credible reports regarding malicious conduct.
> * Registrant data escrow: Extend data escrow requirements to privacy and proxy
> registrations. 
> * Full information on affiliates: For relevant compliance purposes, ensure
> ICANN has complete information on and ability to verify Registrar and
> affiliate information.
> * Whois Accuracy: Extend requirements for problem investigation to some
> definition of validation or verification of accurate data.
> * Clarify response time requirements: Clarify and codify the amount of time a
> registered name holder has to respond to an inquiry or accept liability for
> harm caused by wrongful use of that name.
> * Improve timeliness of arbitration processes: Reduce the number of
> arbitrators to save time and expense for all involved, when arbitration is
> required. 
> * Modernize process for TLD accreditation: With many registrars and possibly
> many TLDs, improve administrative process so that Registrars in good standing
> can efficiently be accredited for additional TLDs.
> I hope that the working group will find these inputs useful for your
> consideration.
> As ICANN's Chief Operating Officer, I want to ensure that staff is providing
> you with the "front line" information about areas of possible concern directly
> experienced in our enforcement processes. Success for the community and for
> registrants is a set of rules that provide adequate registrant protection, are
> easily understood by all, represent a consensus, and that can be both
> effectively implemented by Registrars and are efficiently enforceable in a way
> that meets expectations.
> I am very interested in how the community will drive further considerations of
> the RAA, and will be tracking your work closely ­ in the working group and
> beyond. If I or other ICANN staff can provide information or assistance,
> please let me and your assigned Policy Staff support, Margie Milam, know.
> Sincerely,
> Doug Brent
> --
> Doug Brent
> Chief Operating Officer
> ICANN
>  
> V: +1.310.301.3871
> M: +1.650.996.4447
>  
> 

-- 
Dr. Konstantinos Komaitis,
Lecturer in Law,
GigaNet Membership Chair,
University of Strathclyde,
The Lord Hope Building,
141 St. James Road,
Glasgow, G4 0LT,
UK
tel: +44 (0)141 548 4306
email: k.komaitis@xxxxxxxxxxxx