Please note that this workspace will be used to gather the At-Large's questions for the Compliance Department during the Prague Meeting.

The deadline for comments is 24 May at 23:59 UTC.- The Deadline has been extended until 1 June at 23:59 UTC.


The questions below were posted by Jean-Jacques Subrenat on 10 June 2012.

Following on Olivier's suggestion that I review the draft, and taking into account the remarks posted on the e-mail list, I submit the following "consolidated" version. As mentioned at the last ALAC telephone conference, and commented subsequently, the impact we wish to have requires a two-pronged approach,

  • a member of ALAC ExeCom sending the text (below) to Compliance in advance of the Prague meeting, and
  • Chair of ALAC sending a brief letter to Board Chair (and copy to CEO) expressing concern about some compliance matters, the text below being attached.

Please note that

  • under point 1 below, last line, I am suggesting "documented inaccuracies", but perhaps Garth would prefer "obvious" or some such word?
  • I leave it up to Garth, Cintra and other contributors, to insert where appropriate the text they have agreed upon regarding Subsections 3.7.7.2 and 3.7.8.

In view of the next consultation between the ALAC and the Compliance Department of ICANN, scheduled in Prague on ... June 2012, prior agreement on the agenda is a requirement for its success. As many of these topics have already been discussed on several occasions, the ALAC wishes to underline its strong interest in the following agenda items, the absence of which would not warrant holding the upcoming consultation.

1.  ALAC requests formal confirmation that ICANN does not have the ability to enforce RAA 3.7.8 in terms of domain deletions for WHOIS inaccuracy as stated on page 79 of The WHOIS Policy Review Team Final Report. Specifically, it is desirable to ascertain whether Compliance, or any other Department of ICANN, has the authority to hold a Registrar in breach for failing to delete a domain with inaccurate WHOIS or for failing to actually correct documented inaccuracies.

2.  ALAC requests that ICANN General Counsel be in attendance to answer any questions which Compliance is not able, or does not have the authority to answer.

3. ALAC requests to be informed of the decision-making process which led to the conclusion that registrars Moniker, Core, and BizCn had failed in their obligations to properly investigate reports of (or provide evidence they investigated) WHOIS inaccuracies, in violation of RAA 3.7.8, and yet to which ICANN did not issue breach notices. Specifically, ALAC requests to be informed

  • of the level at which the decision not to issue breach notices was made (Compliance or elsewhere in ICANN?)
  • of the criteria for such a decision? (Documentation on the specifics will be provided)

4. ALAC requests engagement in a comprehensive discussion of the handling of WDPRS complaints relating to RegistrarsUkrainian Names, Internet.BS, Urlsolutions, Net4India, PT Ardh, OnlineNIC and BizCn, as the results reported by Staff appear to be lacking completeness or detail. (Documentation on the specifics will be provided)

5. Any other issues.

 

3 Comments

  1. Jean-Jacques: Thank you. I think your additions/re-workings are perfect as is. This version has my blessing, at least.

    -Garth

    P.S., item 5 was open for anyone else' complaints/concerns. It can be removed if there are none.

  2. Folks, this is a brief analysis of the compliance response (in their prepared presentation: https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/34606099/ICANN+44+-+Contractual+Compliace+-+ALAC.pptx) to the questions previously sent (above). This assessment is completely based on their written presentation which is separate from on-the-fly Q&A.

    (1) Their answer to the first question:

    "ICANN is authorized to breach a registrar for failure to delete or failure to correct inaccurate whois"

    Not only appears to reject the conclusion of the WHOIS review team (http://www.icann.org/en/about/aoc-review/whois/final-report-11may12-en.pdf) which was "In our discussions with ICANN compliance they only expect the registrar to notify the registrant of an inaccuracy report(p32)" and "If data is found to be intentionally false registrars are not obligated to cancel the registration(p79)" but also contradicts the statements given by Compliance to the Review Team:

    "Currently the RAA requires registrars to investigate alleged WHOIS inaccuracies but there is no requirement in the RAA for registrars to ensure that WHOIS data is accurate.(p79)"

    Also, this contradicts the Compliance advisory which is, as far as I know, still policy(http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/advisory-03apr03-en.htm)

    (2) General Counsel was present

    (3) The only item they addressed in the answer was that the decision was made within Compliance. They did not answer on process, method or rationale.

    (4) They did not address question 4(above), they completely left it out of their presentation.

    There were additionally questions posed by others and the sentiment was, believe, they failed to address those as well. But I wont speak for those who originally asked them!

    In summary, I believe they failed to meet the conditions of the meeting as laid out. It must be made clear they have failed on accountability and transparency. They have failed in their stated mission of preserving the security, stability and resiliency of the Domain Name System and to promoting consumer trust.

    It's my opinion they should not be given another meeting in Toronto and instead we should meet with another department, entity who has complete oversight in this area.