draft gac whois principles text...

[Robin Gross]

I agree that we need to encourage people to contact their GAC
representatives and ask them to stand-up to the USG/IPR/Interpol
alliance that has hijacked the GAC on the whois issue.

So I went to GAC's website to see if there is a list of their membership
-- or some other way for people to let their country  representatives
know how they feel on an issue, and there isn't any such information -
at least not on GAC's website.

Does anyone know how people can actually get in touch with their govt
rep in GAC to voice their concerns on whois?

Thanks,
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.
>
>
>