SSAC Retreat Public Forum Summary & Analysis
Summary and analysis of public comments for: SSAC Retreat 2009 Comment period ended: 08 September 2009 Summary published: 09 September 2009 Preparation by: Julie Hedlund, Director, SSAC Support I. BACKGROUND ICANN's Security & Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) is proposing to hold a retreat 30 September - 1 October 2009. The retreat would inform SSAC members, and help the committee prioritize its activities and prepare a work plan. SSAC requested input on the proposed retreat, including substantive items that merit SSAC attention. In particular, SSAC requested comments on the proposed topics for the retreat: 1) SSAC Operations and Coordination * SSAC Charter, Member Roles, Workflow * SSAC Review Outcomes, Engagement with ICANN Bodies 2) Substantive/Informational Issues * Registrant Protection & Abusive Behavior * DNS as an Attack Vector * SSAC/ICANN Role in Routing * Root Server System Robustness & its Future * Security & Stability of the Internet (Gaming & Structural Issues with ICANN Rules) In addition, to assist the SSAC in long-term planning and operational efficiencies, SSAC solicited comments on other issues that might be useful to discuss in depth at the retreat. II. GENERAL COMMENTS & CONTRIBUTORS At the time this summary was prepared, a total of 4 community submissions were posted to the forum. One comment was unrelated to the topic at hand; thus, there were 3 relevant comments. The contributors, all individuals, are listed below in chronological order by posting date (with initials noted in parentheses). The initials will be used in the foregoing narrative to identify specific quoted contributions. * George Kirikos (GK) * Moses Boone (MB) - Unrelated Comment * Stephane Bortzmeyer (SB) * KC Claffy (KC) III. SUMMARY & ANALYSIS This document is intended to broadly and comprehensively summarize the comments of the various contributors to this forum but not to address every specific argument or position stated by any or all contributors. The Staff recommends that readers interested in specific aspects of any of the summarized comments or the full context of others refer directly to the specific contributions. Of the comments, two of them - those of GK and KC - suggested topics either for discussion at the proposed SSAC retreat or for a future discussion. The comment by SB was a rebuttal of the suggestion made by GK. Specifically, GK suggested that the SSAC should study the issue of placing on reserve the most popular invalid TLDs, as well as compiling relevant statistics on them. SB strongly objected to this suggestion. In particular, SB said that reservation of the most popular invalid TLDs would "give a weapon to any software vendor which could block any TLD, just by reconfiguring it by default in its programs." SB further argued that he is "aware that Microsoft and Apple both hardwired '.local' in their operating systems" but that this does not mean the TLD should be blocked. He added that reserving the most popular invalid TLDs would "set a very bad precedent and a recognition of the use of force." KC provided two suggestions for topics to be considered at the SSAC retreat. First, she said the SSAC should discuss comments on the ICANN transition, what happens at the expiration date, and what SSAC's role could have been or was during that process. Second, KC suggested that the SSAC should discuss new gTLDs at the retreat and added that useful supplemental information would any reports ICANN has sponsored or requested on the new gTLDs transition and to subject these reports to a 'peer review' at the retreat. IV. NEXT STEPS The SSAC will consider all the relevant community input and move forward with suggestions for additional topics for the retreat and/or future reports. Attachment:
SSAC Retreat Public Forum Summary & Analysis.doc |