Updated: MarkMonitor's Comments to Preliminary WHOIS Task Force Report with Additional Endorsements
Dear Task Force Members:
The organizations identified below join MarkMonitor in submitting
comments to the two new WHOIS proposals described in the Report.
Introduction
Billions of Internet users benefit from the protection enabled by
current WHOIS policy, which requires free, unrestricted and immediate
access. If ICANN policy creates new obstacles or delays for those
seeking to protect consumers from illegal activity involving domain
names, Internet users will suffer. Thwarting the current and successful
process will profoundly increase the number innocent consumers made
victims by Internet criminals.
The undersigned ask the WHOIS Task Force to recognize that brand owners
are most often first to respond to online illegal activity and that they
rely almost exclusively on WHOIS to identify and stop the persons behind
such illegal conduct. Identification is critical-it helps parties
communicate and speed dispute resolution without legal action, and when
such action is necessary, enables service of process, without which the
legitimate rule of law cannot provide a safe environment for consumers
and businesses on the Internet.
While many legitimate and important privacy concerns exist over access
to WHOIS data (for example, registration data of a battered women's
shelter site) many others seek anonymity as a cover for nefarious intent
like cyber squatting, phishing and other for profit illegitimate
behavior. While those with ill-intent profit from anonymity, consumers
and legitimate online commerce suffer, often unknowingly. We request
that ICANN evaluate models that offer protection from those who seek to
abuse the system while making decisions related to blocking access to
WHOIS data.
We therefore ask that ICANN and the WHOIS Task Force act on the behalf
of Internet users and consumers to preserve the collective trust
instilled in the Internet. We request that any new policies be examined
by the WHOIS Task Force in light of their impact on consumers and those
seeking to maintain and protect the safety and reliability of electronic
commerce.
To preserve order and maintain a sense of security and accountability
for Internet users, we recommend the adoption of the Special
Circumstances proposal.
Evaluation of Proposals
I. The Operational Point of Contact (OPOC) Proposal
The OPOC proposal is troubling for a number of reasons. First, it
reduces the amount of information available in investigating instances
of online abuse. Brand owners often rely on the various fields in WHOIS
to track down cybersquatters and fraudsters. Reducing the amount of such
information will likely cause delays for brand owners in identifying and
commencing action against registrants who engage in illegal conduct.
The OPOC proposal does not specify the qualifications, responsibilities,
and standards to be applicable to the OPOC. For example, it is unclear
whether the OPOC would be able to accept service of process for legal
actions involving domain names, such as the UDRP. Under the proposal,
the OPOC could be a party with no relationship to the actual registrant.
Since the OPOC can be a third party (such as a proxy service or even a
registrar), there is no assurance that important communications will be
promptly forwarded to the registrant. Thus, cease & desist letters,
domain transfer approvals, notices of inaccurate WHOIS information,
phishing take-down notices, UDRP complaints and other similar
communications may not be received and processed in a prompt manner.
In addition, the OPOC proposal does not address the privacy concerns
that have been raised as the primary reason for changing WHOIS policy.
Without such improvements in privacy, it is difficult to justify the
adoption of OPOC over the status quo.
II. Special Circumstances Proposal
The Special Circumstances proposal is preferable to the OPOC proposal
because it provides a workable solution to the privacy concerns without
significantly changing WHOIS for the vast majority of Internet users.
The impact to brand owners should be minimal under the Special
Circumstances proposal because registrants who misuse domain names to
conduct illegal online activities should not qualify for the "special
circumstances designation" and therefore would continue to have their
contact information displayed in the same manner as currently available
today. The Special Circumstance proposal includes a practical mechanism
that allows the WHOIS information to be revealed in the event the
privacy designation is abused, or the domain name is used for commercial
purposes.
Thus, under the Special Circumstances proposal, brand owners would not
need to significantly alter their current processes and procedures for
monitoring, tracking and taking action against those illegally targeting
their businesses and consumers.
Respectfully submitted,
Irfan Salim
President and CEO
MarkMonitor, Inc.
San Francisco, California, USA
Co-signed by:
Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Park, IL USA
Activision Inc.
Santa Monica, CA USA
Acushnet Company
Fairhaven, MA USA
Advanced Micro Devices
Sunnyvale, CA USA
Alliance Data
Dallas, TX USA
ALLTEL Communications Corp.
Sandusky, OH USA
Anti-Phishing Working Group
San Francisco, CA USA
Apple Computer
Cupertino, CA USA
Avaya Inc.
Basking Ridge, NJ USA
Bank of America
Charlotte, NC USA
BBC
London, ENGLAND
Bell Canada International
Montreal, PQ CANADA
Booz Allen Hamilton
Mclean, VA USA
Bose Corporation
Framingham, MA USA
British Sky Broadcasting
London, ENGLAND
Boy Scouts of America
Newark, NJ USA
Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
Ottawa ON CANADA
Capmark Financial Group Inc.
Harsham, PA USA
Carfax Inc.
Fairfax, VA USA
CarMax Business Services
Richmond, VA USA
Carnival Corporation
Miami, FL USA
Caterpillar Inc.
Peoria, IL USA
Cingular Wireless
Atlanta, GA USA
CIT
New York, NY USA
CMS Energy
Jackson, MI USA
Coldwater Creek
Sandpoint, ID USA
Comerica
Detroit, MI USA
Conair Corp.
East Windsor, NJ USA
Consumers Energy
Jackson, MI USA
Coors Global Properties, Inc.
Golden, CO USA
Dell, Inc.
Round Rock, TX USA
Delta Airlines
Atlanta, GA USA
Doctor's Associates Inc.
Milford, CT USA
Dole Food Companies Inc.
Westlake Village, CA USA
dotBERLIN GmbH & Co. KG
Berlin, GERMANY
eBay Inc.
San Jose, CA USA
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
Wilmington, DE USA
EMCOR Group
London, ENGLAND
First Data Corporation
Greenwood Village, CO USA
Fontainebleau Resorts
Las Vegas, NV USA
Forbes Media LLC
New York, NY USA
Ford Motor Company
Dearborn, MI USA
Franklin Templeton Invest.
San Mateo, CA USA
Garmin
Olathe, KS USA
General Motors Corporation
Detroit, MI USA
Hasbro Inc.
Pawtucket, RI USA
Hilton Hotels Corporation
Beverly Hills, CA USA
HouseValues Inc.
Kirkland, WA USA
IBM
Armonk, NY USA
InfoSpace Inc.
Bellevue, WA USA
Integis
Charlotte, NC USA
InterContinental Hotels Group
Windsor, ENGLAND
International Data Group
Boston, MA USA
Kelly Services
Troy, MI USA
Knowledge Adventure
Schiller Park, IL USA
Lastminute.com
London, ENGLAND
Live Nation
Beverly Hills, CA USA
Logitech Inc
Romanel-sur-Morges Caud
SWITZERLAND
Lumenis
Santa Clara, CA USA
Mercer Human Resource
Consulting
New York, NY USA
Microsoft
Redmond, WA USA
Molson Canada
Montreal, PQ CANADA
Morton's The Steakhouse
Chicago, IL USA
Mozilla
Mountain View, CA USA
NetJets
Woodbridge, NJ USA
News America Incorporated
New York, NY USA
Nordstrom Inc.
Seattle, WA USA
Novell Inc.
Waltham, MA USA
Optimo.com
San Leandro, CA USA
Overstock.com Inc.
Salt Lake City, UT USA
PACCAR Inc.
Bellevue, WA USA
Paypal Inc.
San Jose, CA USA
PerkinElmer
Wellesley, MA USA
PetSmart Inc.
Phoenix, AZ USA
Priceline.com
Norwalk, CA USA
Quiksilver
Huntington Beach, CA USA
Raymond James Financial
St. Petersburg, FL USA
Renold plc
Manchester, ENGLAND
Reviews.com
New York, NY USA
RevollvingDoorSlammers.net
Jabiru, Australia
Saint-Gobain
London, ENGLAND
SB Management Services Inc.
USA
Sherwin-Williams Co.
Cleveland, OH USA
Shimano
Sakai, Osaka JAPAN
Shopping Inc.
Brisnane, CA USA
Silverpop Systems
Atlanta, GA USA
Snap-on Inc et al
Kenosha, WI USA
State Farm
Bloomington, IL USA
T. Rowe Price
Baltimore, MD USA
Tahitian Noni International
Provo, UT USA
Terex Corporation
Westport, CT USA
The Body Shop International
Littlehampton, ENGLAND
The Clearing House
New York, NY USA
The Cobalt Group Inc.
Seattle, WA USA
The Dial Corporation
Scottsdale, AZ USA
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
Amherst, NY USA
The Saul Zaentz Company
Berkely, CA USA
The Scotts Company LLC
Marysville, OH USA
Visa International
Foster City, CA USA
W.L. Gore & Associates Inc.
Putzburnn, Bayern GERMANY
Warner Bros. Entertainment
Burbank, CA USA
Washington Mutual Inc.
Seattle, WA USA
Watson Pharmaceuticals
Corona, CA USA
WebHostingBuzz.com
Wilmington, DE USA
Wells Fargo
San Francisco, CA USA
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
Chicago, IL USA
Yahoo! Inc.
Sunnyvale, CA USA
Young Life
Colorado Springs, CO USA
Zurich Insurance Company
Zurich SWITZERLAND
Additional Endorsements since 1/12/07:
Companies:
Leap of Faith Financial Services Inc.
Ontario, CANADA
MOLI
USA
Yum Brands
Louisville, KY USA
Individuals:
Thomas Flannagan
Noble Brown
Fatima Vazquez
Attachment:
ICANN letter revised 1 15 07 Final Final Final.pdf |