draft gac whois principles text...

[Robin Gross]

Maybe we could make it a little easier for folks to contact their GAC
representative on this by coming up with a couple different sample
letters that people could send to their own GAC rep.  I can do one
example letter if others think this would be worthwhile.

Robin



KathrynKL at AOL.COM wrote:

> <<It seems GAC's working group headed by NTIA is keen to totally open
> WHOIS data -- not surprising, of course. Is this going to be the
> position of the GAC? --c.a.>>
>
> Only if no one goes to their GAC members to ask them to come forward.
> This GAC communique is signed only by the US and Australia -- the same
> two who railed against the GNSO Council going forward with its
> original vote
> on the "Purpose" of Whois.
>
> Note -- this says nothing in this statement that is fair or even.
> Nothing
> about protecting domain name registrations from
> the dangers of exposure of their personal data to phishing, spamming,
> stalking,
> intimidation of individuals, small organizations and developing
> businesses, and other abuses.
>
> Lots of government care about what we are saying.  There was great
> opposition to the US position behind the closed doors of the GAC
> meeting in Marrakech.  Many of you are in touch with your governments
> and your GACs.  Educate them, help them participate more actively in
> GAC, help them take their concerns beyond the closed doors of GAC to
> the rest of ICANN.
>
> Silence here only benefits the US and Australia, not the NCUC and not
> the rest of the Internet.
>
> Kathy
>
>>
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: draft gac whois principles text
>> From: "Suzanne Sene" <ssene at ntia.doc.gov>
>> Date: Thu, September 21, 2006 1:02 am
>>
>> ** High Priority **
>>
>> hello everyone, as the convenor of gac working group 1, i am pleased to
>> forward the text of the draft gac whois principles regarding the purpose
>> and use of whois data, prepared by our gac colleagues from australia
>> (ashley cross and paul szyndler).
>>
>> this draft text is the culmination of both internal gac discussions and
>> external public sessions the gac has organized since 2005 to address the
>> public policy aspects of the purpose and use of whois data.
>>
>> during our most recent meeting in marrakech, the gac plenary agreed to
>> finalize the principles at the sao paulo meeting in December, 2006.
>>
>> to meet the December deadline for gac plenary approval of the text, all
>> gac members are requested to submit comments via the working group 1
>> discus thread on whois according to the following timeline:
>>
>> October 13:  submission of first round of comments
>>
>> October 27:  revised text circulated
>>
>> November 2:  submission of second round of comments
>>
>> November 27:  final version of text circulated
>>
>> we will discuss the text during the working group 1 meeting in sao paulo
>> on December 3, followed by discussion and adoption by the gac plenary.
>>
>> please note the availability of background documents on the gac discus
>> site under the whois heading, and feel free to contact me should you
>> have any questions.
>>
>> thanks in advance for your attention and support for this gac priority
>> project.  best regards, suz.
>>
>> Suzanne R. Sene
>> Senior Policy Advisor
>> NTIA/OIA
>> 202-482-3167 (ph)
>> 202-482-1865 (fax)
>>
>> --- text version of attached document ---
>>
>>
>>
>> DRAFT
>>
>> GAC PRINCIPLES REGARDING THE PURPOSE
>> AND USE OF WHOIS DATA
>>
>> Presented by the Governmental Advisory Committee
>> December 6, 2006
>>
>> Preamble
>>
>> 1.1   The purpose of this document is to identify a set of general
>> public policy principles related to the operation and management of the
>> generic top level domain (gTLD) WHOIS service.
>>
>> 1.2These principles have been developed in consultation with privacy,
>> law enforcement, consumer and intellectual property bodies within each
>> GAC member government.
>>
>> Objective of this document
>>
>> 2.1These principles are intended to guide the work within ICANN
>> pertaining to the WHOIS service and to inform the ICANN Board of the
>> consensus views of the GAC regarding the range of public policy uses of
>> WHOIS data.
>>
>> Public Policy Aspects of WHOIS Data
>>
>> 3.1   The GAC believes that the WHOIS database serves many legitimate
>> purposes, including:
>>
>> 1.Assisting national law enforcement agencies, both civil and criminal,
>> in resolving cases that involve the use of the Internet (such as child
>> pornography, violent crimes, wire fraud, cyber crime, consumer fraud,
>> identity theft, phishing, and other violations of consumer privacy and
>> data security);
>>
>> 2.Combating intellectual property infringement and theft through the
>> identification of cybersquatters, trademark infringers, counterfeiters,
>> and copyright pirates;
>>
>> 3.Supporting Internet network operators responsible for the operation,
>> security, and stability of the Internet;
>>
>> 4.Protecting the rights of consumers by facilitating their
>> identification of legitimate online businesses; and
>>
>> 5.   Assisting businesses in investigating fraud, phishing and other
>> violations of   law affecting their business interests and the interests
>> of their customers.
>>
>>
>> 3.2 While the GAC recognizes the complexity posed by such a broad range
>> of public policy uses of WHOIS data, the GAC believes that the policy
>> development process regarding the definition, purpose and operation of
>> gTLD WHOIS services needs to reflect the interests and concerns of this
>> broad range of users of WHOIS data.
>>
>> Principles Applicable to WHOIS Data
>>
>> 4.1   The GAC believes that a fully functional WHOIS service should:
>>
>> 1.Satisfy the traditional and ongoing goal of ensuring the security and
>> stability of the Internet;
>>
>> 2.Facilitate continued, timely and cross-border access to accurate WHOIS
>> data for law enforcement, intellectual property rights protection,
>> consumer protection, and compliance and regulatory purposes;
>>
>> 3.Provide the necessary level of data regarding domain name registrants
>> and registrations to any user who seeks it, including, for example,
>> civil and criminal law enforcement officials, online consumers, network
>> operators, intellectual property rights holders, and registries and
>> registrars; and
>>
>> 4.Consider national laws and global agreements associated with trade
>> practices, consumer protection, intellectual property rights and
>> copyright protection, and privacy protection.
>
>
>