<div dir="ltr">I add my support.<div><br></div><div>Lisa</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 3:21 PM, William Drake <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:wjdrake@gmail.com" target="_blank">wjdrake@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div style="word-wrap:break-word">Hi Kathy<div><br></div><div>We have like a dozen expressions of support, no voiced opposition, and less than two hours until the submission deadline, so under these circumstances yes let’s call it an NCUC endorsement. Thanks for writing it and please submit it on our behalf.</div>
<div><br></div><div>I’m heading offline for the evening.</div><div><br></div><div>Cheers,</div><div><br></div><div>Bill</div><div><br><div><div>On Jan 16, 2014, at 11:52 PM, Kathy Kleiman <<a href="mailto:Kathy@kathykleiman.com" target="_blank">Kathy@kathykleiman.com</a>> wrote:</div>
<br><blockquote type="cite"><div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px">
Hi All,<br>I need your help. There is an amazing study done by two researchers (a PhD and an almost-PhD) at Carnegie Melon University. They tested the hypothesis of whether "public access to WHOIS data leads to a measurable degree of misuse of certain kinds of gTLD domain name Registrant identity and contact information." They did both a descriptive study (surveys of law enforcement and privacy people, registrants and registrars) and an experimental study (registering domain names with no other traceable source and seeing how much spam, and unsolicited phone calls and emails they received). <span> </span><br>
<br>They found what we have been telling ICANN for years: "there is a statistically significant occurrence of WHOIS misue affecting Registrants' email addresses, postal addresses, and phone numbers, published in Whois."<span> </span><br>
<br>Great and let's tell them so! I've drafted some comments that not only support the findings (and review the great effort dedicated to the study), but also draw on abuse cases we have discussed and shared from the NCUC over many years, including political persecution, chilling effects, anti-competitive activity, and stalking.<br>
<br>Since these are Reply Comments, it is traditional to not only share your own views, but comment on those of others. Our views are, in many way, close to those of ALAC on this issue. ALAC's comments note that the Study's results "align with individual experience of At-Large constituents" and also research ALAC has done. So the noncommercial and individual registrant groups are aligned on this issue - and that is key.<br>
<br>Below and attached please find the draft comments. Please feel free to send me edits with Track Changes (if you use the attached file). To avoid a flood on the list, feel free to share small edits with me privately. Big edits and changes are probably up for discussion. DEADLINE: SATURDAY (but I am judging my son's debate team, so tomorrow if possible).<br>
<br>Best and tx,<br>Kathy<br><br><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;text-align:center"><b>[DRAFT] Comments of the Noncommercial Users Constituency of ICANN<u></u><u></u></b></div>
<div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;text-align:center"><b>Study on Whois Misuse<u></u><u></u></b></div><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;text-align:center">
<b>Due: January 18, 2014<u></u><u></u></b></div><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
The Noncommercial Users Constituency of ICANN submits this document in response to the call for public comments on the<span> </span><b><i>Study on Whois Misuse</i></b><span> </span>posted on the ICANN website. We respectfully submit that this Study is a very important one for ICANN and for the GNSO policy work ahead.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">We note that the study seems thorough and professionally done. Its named researchers were Dr. Nicolas Christin and Nektarios Leontiadis. Dr. Christin received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Virginia, and is an Assistant Research Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.<span> </span><span> </span>Nektarios Leontiadis is a PhD candidate at Carnegie Mellon University, in the department of Engineering and Public Policy, with research focused on the economic modeling of online crime. Both are affiliated with CMU’s<span> </span><i>CyLab</i><span> </span>security lab.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This study stayed close and tight to the Terms of Reference set out for it --<span> </span><span> </span>terms set and designed by members of the GNSO and approved by the GNSO Council.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The key question of the study was:<span> </span><i>Does public access to WHOIS-published data lead to a measurable degree of misuse?</i><span> <span> </span></span>The answer was an unequivocal yes:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The main finding of the descriptive study is that there is a<span> </span><b>statistically significant occurrence of WHOIS misuse affecting Registrants’ email addresses, postal addresses, and phone numbers, published in WHOIS</b><span> </span>when registering domains in these gTLDs.<span> <span> </span></span><b>Overall, we find that 44% of Registrants experience one or more of these types of WHOIS misuse.</b><span> </span><span> </span>[Emphasis added, WHOIS Misuse Study, p. 6]</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">We appreciate the extensive efforts the CMU team undertook to test the hypothesis it was given by ICANN and the GNSO.<span> <span> </span></span>First, it conducted a descriptive study reaching out to Experts, Registrants and Registries/Registrars. Specifically, the team surveyed a “diverse group of experts in the fields of security and privacy affiliated with research institutes, academia, law enforcement agencies, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and national data protection commissioners.” [Study, p. 13]</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The team surveyed Registrants for a “better understanding of their direct experiences with Whois misuse” and found that 43.9% reported “some kind of misuse of their WHOIS information,” including<span> </span><i>postal address misuse, email address misuse<span> </span></i>and<i>phone number misuse</i><span> </span>tied to the Whois data, as well as<span> </span><i>Identity theft, unauthorized intrusion to servers<span> </span></i>and<i><span> </span>blackmail<span> </span></i><span> </span>to which publicly-published Whois data may have been a contributing factor.<span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Then the team surveyed Registrars and Registries about Whois harvesting attacks, and the deployment and effectiveness of WHOIS anti-harvesting techniques.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Second and perhaps most interestingly, the CMU team conducted its own experimental study in which they registered a set of domain names in the top five gTLDs through a representative set of Registrars, with unique Registrant identities. Over the course of six months, they tracked emails, voicemails and postal mail received by the registrants of these experimental domain names. The purpose of the study was to eliminate “any extraneous variables,” e.g. the publication of a postal address in both the Whois and an outside directory.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The conclusions of the study are Striking – and answer questions floating in the GNSO for over a decade.<span> <span> </span></span><i>Yes, there is abuse of publicly-published Whois data. Yes, that abuse is statistically significant.</i><span> </span>We share again the main finding of the Study for additional review in this comment period:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The main finding of the descriptive study is that there is a statistically significant occurrence of WHOIS misuse affecting Registrants’ email addresses, postal addresses, and phone numbers, published in WHOIS when registering domains in these gTLDs.<span> <span> </span></span>Overall, we find that 44% of Registrants experience one or more of these types of WHOIS misuse.<span> </span><span> </span>[Emphasis added, WHOIS Misuse Study, p. 6]</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">We thank CMU for the extensive efforts it devoted to this study, and the extra efforts made and extra time spent to expand studies to include more experts from Latin America and overall go above and beyond the requirements for a<span> <span> </span></span>rounded and complete study.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u>Reply to Other Commenters:<u></u><u></u></u></p><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<b>ALAC Comments:<span> </span><u></u><u></u></b></div><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(37,37,37)">ALAC published the following comment in their comments: “We note the study has returned findings that align with individual experience of At-Large constituents plus the evidence of widespread occurrence has validated similar research undertaken by At-Large connected researchers.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(37,37,37)"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
We note that NCUC, too, has directly experienced deeply concerning misuses of WHOIS data. In particular, attorneys in NCUC have directly experienced and directly worked with clients who have experienced:</p><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.75in;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span><span>-<span> <span> </span></span></span></span>Stalking, for which the Whois was the only published source for the location of an online, home-based business by which an ex-spouse found his wife and stalked her.</div>
<div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.75in;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span>-<span> <span> </span></span></span></span>Political persecution, by which Whois data was used not only to track dissenters (some located in the US and protected by the First Amendment), but also their families located in the countries about whose corruption the websites were devoted (and who were not similarly protected);</div>
<div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.75in;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span>-<span> <span> </span></span></span></span>Chilling effects, by which Whois data was used to track down and intimidate or silence those who have a different political, religious or moral view;</div>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt 0.75in;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span><span>-<span> <span> </span></span></span></span>Anticompetitive activity – by which competitors used Whois data to track down entrepreneurs and small businesses owners and seek to intimidate them to set businesses plans and services aside.<span> </span><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(37,37,37)">We further share with ALAC the deep concern that “WHOIS misuse is factual and widespread, as the evidence from 44% of sampled registrants across the several domains attest.”<span> <span> </span></span>We further agree that this<span> </span><span> </span>poses a “continued threat” to the “security and confidence in the use of the Internet, [and] the public interest demands measures to address and abate its impact.”<span> <span> </span></span>ALAC Comments,<span> </span><a href="http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-whois-misuse-27nov13/msg00006.html" style="color:purple;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-whois-misuse-27nov13/msg00006.html</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">We have the evidence, and measures must now be taken to protect Registrants, and the speech, work, expression, hobbies, research, business, education and communication they conduct using their domain names.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Respectfully submitted,</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
[if approved]</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:17px;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">NONCOMMERCIAL USERS CONSTITUENCY</p> <span> </span><span><NCUC DRAFT Comments - Misuse of Whois Study.docx></span>_______________________________________________<br>
Ncuc-discuss mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Ncuc-discuss@lists.ncuc.org" target="_blank">Ncuc-discuss@lists.ncuc.org</a><br><a href="http://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss" style="color:purple;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">http://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss</a><br>
</div></blockquote></div><br><div>
***********************************************<br>William J. Drake<br>International Fellow & Lecturer<br> Media Change & Innovation Division, IPMZ<br> University of Zurich, Switzerland<br>Chair, Noncommercial Users Constituency, <br>
ICANN, <a href="http://www.ncuc.org" target="_blank">www.ncuc.org</a><br><a href="mailto:william.drake@uzh.ch" target="_blank">william.drake@uzh.ch</a> (direct), <a href="mailto:wjdrake@gmail.com" target="_blank">wjdrake@gmail.com</a> (lists),<br>
<a href="http://www.williamdrake.org" target="_blank">www.williamdrake.org</a><br>***********************************************
</div>
<br></div></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>
Ncuc-discuss mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Ncuc-discuss@lists.ncuc.org">Ncuc-discuss@lists.ncuc.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss" target="_blank">http://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div><i><font color="#ff0000">Please note that my email address now is <a href="mailto:mclauglm@miamioh.edu" target="_blank">mclauglm@miamioh.edu</a>. Please also note that my department name has changed to the Department of Media, Journalism, and Film. I continue to have a joint appointment in the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program.</font></i></div>
<div><br></div>Lisa McLaughlin, Ph.D.<div>Associate Professor, Department of Media, Journalism & Film and Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Program</div><div>Co-Editor, <i>Feminist Media Studies, </i><a href="http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/rfms" style="font-size:small;color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/rfms</a></div>
<div>Miami University-Ohio</div><div>USA</div><div><br></div><div>Contact:</div><div>Department of Media, Journalism & Film</div><div>Williams Hall</div><div>Miami University</div><div>Oxford, OH 45056</div><div>USA</div>
<div>Tele: 513-529-3547</div><div>Fax: 513-529-1835</div><div>Email: <a href="mailto:mclauglm@miamioh.edu" target="_blank">mclauglm@miamioh.edu</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size:small">forthcoming book - Routledge Companion to Media and Gender</span><br style="font-size:small">
<a href="http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415527699/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-size:small" target="_blank">http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415527699/</a><br></div></div>
</div>