SSAC Advisory Regarding the Centralized Zone Data Service (CZDS) and Registry Operator Monthly Activity Reports (R-4)
| Date Issued | Document | Reference ID | Current Phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSAC Advisory Regarding the Centralized Zone Data Service (CZDS) and Registry Operator Monthly Activity Reports (R-4) | SAC097 | DEFERRED |
DESCRIPTION
The SSAC recommends that the ICANN Board suggest to ICANN Staff to ensure that zone file access and Web-based WHOIS query statistics are accurately and publicly reported, according to well-defined standards that can be uniformly complied with by all gTLD registry operators. The Zone File Access (ZFA) metric should be clarified as soon as practicable.
DEPENDENCIES
The CZDS 3.0 project has been placed on hold to prioritize work on the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS), formerly referred to as the Whois Disclosure System (WDS), as directed by the ICANN board resolutions from the special meeting of the ICANN board held on 27-February-2023.
STATUS UPDATES
| Date | Phase | Type | Status Updates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 4 | Phase Change | Now in Phase 4: Deferred |
| Phase 4 | Dependencies | The CZDS 3.0 project has been placed on hold to prioritize work on the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS), formerly referred to as the Whois Disclosure System (WDS), as directed by the ICANN board resolutions from the special meeting of the ICANN board held on 27-February-2023. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update |
|
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | The functionality in CZDS for request auto-renewal was deployed in November 2022 and will help prevent gaps in zone file access for the majority of zone file users. To address the advice from the ICANN SSAC in SAC097, proposed changes were made to the reporting requirements with consideration of the SSAC Advice and subsequent public comments, in the amendment to the base gTLD Registry Agreement to add the RDAP contractual obligations. If the amendments are approved by the ICANN Board, the amendment effective date will be 60 days following the notice from ICANN org. Registry Operators will have 180 days after the effective date to implement necessary changes. |
| Phase 4 | AP Feedback | Thank you for the update. We look forward to the final implementation which should address this recommendation. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | In the past five years since SAC097 was published, the number of gTLDs that inaccurately report zfa-passwords field was reduced by almost 2/3 (June 2017: 45% to May 2022: 14%), resulting with 86% of gTLDs reporting this field accurately. Every month, the exact number of zone file access provided (zfa-passwords) are available on CZDS Reports (https://czds.icann.org/reports) publicly for all gTLDs, as required by SAC097. ICANN Org published the Registry Monthly Reporting FAQs document (https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/registry-monthly-reporting-faqs-31mar22-en.pdf) in June 2022 to provide answers to the common questions and concerns that were received during ICANN Org’s outreaches. This new document will be a continuous support for the registry operators and their technical service providers to generate and submit all reports accurately, despite cases such as turnover volume increases. To improve the accuracy of the WHOIS metric, ICANN and the RysG agreed to a clarification in the reporting requirements for Specification 3 of the Base Registry Agreement. This is available for public comment in the Proposed Amendments to the Base Registry Agreement to incorporate operational requirements for RDAP. https://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/proceeding/proposed-amendments-to-the-base-gtld-ra-and-raa-to-add-rdap-contract-obligations-06-09-2022. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | In the past five years since SAC097 was published, the number of gTLDs that inaccurately report zfa-passwords field was reduced by almost 2/3 (June 2017: 45% to May 2022:14%), resulting with 86% of gTLDs reporting this field accurately. Every month, the exact number of zone file access provided (zfa-passwords) are available on CZDS Reports (https://czds.icann.org/reports) publicly for all gTLDs, as required by SAC097. ICANN Org published the Registry Monthly Reporting FAQs document (https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/registry-monthly-reporting-faqs-31mar22-en.pdf) in June 2022 to provide answers to the common questions and concerns that were received during ICANN Org’s outreaches. This new document will be a continuous support for the registry operators and their technical service providers to generate and submit all reports accurately, despite cases such as turnover volume increases. The conversations between SSAC and registry operators clarified that ICANN Org cannot measure the accuracy of the web-based WHOIS query statistics. Therefore, it is not possible for ICANN Org to compare the past and current status of the issue by itself. ICANN Org is looking forward to supporting the SSAC leadership in their work with the TechOps group, which brings registry operators and their technical service providers together. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | ICANN's response to SSAC's question 1: Are the changes that have been made currently in production? Detailed information about the issue and solutions were communicated with the registry operators and their technical service providers directly by ICANN Org and generated awareness about using the data provided by the zfa-password reports at czds.icann.org. The Registry Monthly Reporting FAQ (to be published in March 2022) is expected to provide more information about the zfa-password issue and support outreach efforts to create further awareness not only about the zfa-password field but in general about the Registry Monthly Reporting. As a result of the conversations between the SSAC and registry operators, the SSAC leadership agreed to work with the registry operators in the TechOps group to help generate solutions to issues related to reporting web-based WHOIS query statistics. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | ICANN's response to SSAC's question 2: What are the differences between what the SSAC recommended in SAC097 and the current state of affairs? According to the SSAC097, in June 2017, 45% of gTLDs were reporting the zfa-password field accurately. The outreach efforts by the ICANN Org resulted with this ratio of accuracy increase to 86% of the gTLDs. ICANN Org’s outreaches continue, and the Registry Monthly Reporting FAQ, which will be published in Q2 2022 is expected to provide support to have remainder of the gTLDs report this field accurately. During the conversations between SSAC and registry operators, it was clarified that ICANN Org cannot measure the accuracy of the web-based WHOIS query statistics accuracy. Therefore, it is not possible for ICANN Org to compare the past status of the issue with the current state by itself. ICANN Org is looking forward to supporting the SSAC leadership in their work with the TechOps group. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | The result of ICANN Org’s efforts to increase the zfa-password reporting resulted with 86% of gTLDs reporting this field accurately, compared to 45% in June 2017 (SAC097 publish date). With the help of zfa-password reports becoming available at czds.icann.org, the majority of the issue was resolved. To address the remainder of the issue, ICANN Org will publish the Monthly Reporting FAQ in Q2 2022, which will address not only the zfa-password field, but multiple issues related to Registry Monthly Reporting. As a result of the conversations between the SSAC and registry operators, the SSAC leadership agreed to work with the registry operators in the TechOps group to help generate solutions to report more accurate and standardized data about web-based WHOIS query statistics. ICANN Org is looking forward to providing further support to the TechOps group to address this issue. |
| Phase 4 | AP Feedback | SSAC asked the following two questions regarding the SAC097 updates: 1) Are the changes that have been made currently in production? 2) What are the differences between what the SSAC recommended in SAC097 and the current state of affairs? |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | The discussion about the web-based WHOIS statistics continue with the registry operators to clarify requirements as part of Registry Agreement Amendments for RDAP. ICANN's communications about zfa-password issue with the registry operators and their technical service providers show that most registry operators are committed to fixing the issue before the end of 2021. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | Recommendation 4 (Part 1): ICANN has created an interim solution for zone file access statistics, which is available through CZDS. ICANN org will continue to increase the awareness of registry operators to provide reports with the information provided by CZDS. Recommendation 4 (Part 2): During the September 2020 meeting with ICANN Org, SSAC leadership agreed to work with the TechOps group, which includes registry operators for a solution to have a standardization about the reported data about web-based WHOIS query statistics. |
| Phase 4 | AP Feedback | SSAC acknowledged the 06 October 2020 implementation update and did not have any comments or feedback for ICANN org. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | RE: the accuracy of the Zonefile access metric, ICANN provides each gTLD's of zone file access passwords metric within the CZDS system to all CZDS users. Additionally the Base Registry Agreement allows registries to point to CZDS as the authoritative data for this metric in their monthly reports. Still ICANN org has observed roughly 35% of registries continue to provide data via their monthly report inaccurately, which is down from nearly 60% when the advice was received. ICANN org will work with the remaining registries to improve the accuracy of this metric. RE: the WHOIS Query statistics, this one is more challenging as other registries themselves are the source of the authoritative data. The Base Registry agreement provides for some flexibility in how this data is reported when registries utilize shared registry service platforms with multiple TLDs. ICANN encourages SSAC to continue engagement directly with the Registries to potentially develop best practices that can be utilized across the gTLDs. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | The conversation around the accuracy of the WHOIS query statistics between SSAC and contracted parties is ongoing. Until April 2020, several contracted parties expressed that they fixed their reporting systems. On the other hand, other contracted parties expressed concerns and will continue the discussions with SSAC. ICANN Org continues to facilitate the conversation between contracted parties and SSAC to increase the accuracy of the WHOIS query statistics. |
| Phase 4 | AP Feedback | The SSAC requests the ICANN org to facilitate a conversation with the relevant parties (registries and registrars) and the SSAC to normalize reporting across different parties. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | ICANN org continues to facilitate the conversation between SSAC and RySG. The SSAC and RySG met to discuss observations of SSAC during ICANN65 where RySG members raised concerns. |
| Phase 4 | AP Feedback | SSAC acknowledged the 31 May 2019 implementation update and did not have any comments or feedback for ICANN org. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | The SSAC, GDD and Contractual Compliance met to discuss observations of SSAC regarding the quality of data reporting by registry operators. Following the meeting, the SSAC submitted a letter to ICANN org with more detail regarding gTLD reporting. The letter points WHOIS query statistics not being reliable and flags these issues as an opportunity to get make necessary corrections for RDAP. The letter was shared with the RySG and the RySG is so far supportive of engaging with SSAC to better understand the concerns. Some registry operators have already begun engaging ICANN org to discuss potential adjustments to their reports. The SSAC letter and response was published on ICANN Correspondence web page on 30 May 2019: https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/correspondence/weinstein-to-rasmussen-30may19-en.pdf. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | ICANN org is targeting publication of educational materials to help registry operators report zone file access and web-based WHOIS query statistics more accurately, according to well-defined standards by the end of Q2 2019. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Change | Now in Phase 4: Implement |
| Phase 3 | Board Update | Resolved (2018.06.23.10), the Board adopts the scorecard titled "ICANN Board Action for SSAC Advice Documents SAC047, SAC058, SAC061, SAC090, and SAC097 (08 June 2018)" [PDF, 182 KB], and directs the President and CEO or his designee(s) to implement the advice as described in the scorecard. SAC097 Recommendation 4 Board Action: The Board accepts this advice and directs the ICANN President and CEO or his designee to clarify the Zone File Access (ZFA) metric and to support registry operators to increase the accuracy of the public reporting for Web-based WHOIS query statistics. See full resolution at and scorecard at https://www.icann.org/resources/board-material/resolutions-2018-06-23-en#1.g. |
| Phase 3 | Phase Update | ICANN received SSAC's approval of understanding and is in the process of evaluating the advice. The ICANN organization understands SAC097 Recommendation 4 to mean that the ICANN organization should ensure that zone file access and Web-based WHOIS query statistics are accurately and publicly reported, according to well-defined standards that can be uniformly complied with by all gTLD registry operators. The ICANN organization also understands that the SSAC recommends that the ICANN organization clarify the Zone File Access (ZFA) metric as soon as practicable. This understanding was confirmed by the SSAC on 18 August 2017. |
| Phase 3 | Phase Change | Now in Phase 3: Evaluate & Consider |
| Phase 2 | AP Feedback | SSAC confirmed understanding. |
| Phase 2 | Phase Update | The ICANN organization understands SAC097 Recommendation 4 to mean that the ICANN organization should ensure that zone file access and Web-based WHOIS query statistics are accurately and publicly reported, according to well-defined standards that can be uniformly complied with by all gTLD registry operators. The ICANN organization also understands that the SSAC recommends that the ICANN organization clarify the Zone File Access (ZFA) metric as soon as practicable. This understanding was sent to the SSAC on 10 July 2017. |
| Phase 2 | Board Understanding | The ICANN organization understands SAC097 Recommendation 4 to mean that the ICANN organization should ensure that zone file access and Web-based WHOIS query statistics are accurately and publicly reported, according to well-defined standards that can be uniformly complied with by all gTLD registry operators. The ICANN organization also understands that the SSAC recommends that the ICANN organization clarify the Zone File Access (ZFA) metric as soon as practicable. |
| Phase 2 | Phase Update | ICANN has confirmed receipt of the advice document. Currently, this item is being review for ICANN's understanding of the advice. |
| Phase 2 | Phase Change | Now in Phase 2: Understand |
| Phase 1 | Phase Update | ICANN acknowledged receipt of Advice |
| Phase 1 | Phase Update | SSAC published SAC097: SSAC Advisory Regarding the Centralized Zone Data Service (CZDS) and Registry Operator Monthly Activity Reports Link: https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/sac-097-en.pdf. |
| Phase 1 | Phase Change | Now in Phase 1: Receive & Acknowledge |
