Background
The WHOIS Policy Review Team (WHOIS/WHOIS1) was conducted under the Affirmation of Commitments. The Affirmation of Commitments (AoC) between ICANN and the U.S. Department of Commerce committed ICANN to enforcing its existing policy relating to WHOIS (subject to applicable laws), which "requires that ICANN implement measures to maintain timely, unrestricted and public access to accurate and complete WHOIS information, including registrant, technical, billing, and administrative contact information."
The AoC obligated ICANN to organize a community review of WHOIS policy and its implementation to assess the extent to which WHOIS policy is effective and its implementation meets the legitimate needs of law enforcement and promotes consumer trust.
On 11 May 2012, the WHOIS Review Team delivered its Final Report, containing 16 recommendations, to the ICANN Board of Directors.
On 8 November 2012, the Board directed the CEO to continue to fully enforce existing consensus policy and contractual conditions relating to the collection, access and accuracy of gTLD registration data (referred to as gTLD WHOIS data), and increase efforts to communicate, conduct outreach on, and ensure compliance with existing policy and conditions relating to WHOIS, as detailed in the Action Plan.
