SSAC Advisory Regarding the Centralized Zone Data Service (CZDS) and Registry Operator Monthly Activity Reports (R-3)
| Date Issued | Document | Reference ID | Current Phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSAC Advisory Regarding the Centralized Zone Data Service (CZDS) and Registry Operator Monthly Activity Reports (R-3) | SAC097 | DEFERRED |
DESCRIPTION
The SSAC recommends that the ICANN Board suggest to ICANN Staff to seek ways to reduce the number of zone file access complaints, and seek ways to resolve complaints in a timely fashion.
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. Work is currently paused until the CZDS 3.0 project is prioritized again in the future.
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. Work is currently paused until the CZDS 3.0 project is prioritized again in the future. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update |
|
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | ICANN Contractual Compliance continues to address new complaints consistently on a timely basis, as well as initiate efforts to reach contracted parties to resolve processing concerns. The total volume of complaints received has remained consistently lower than the total received in June 2021, which was the highest volume received between June 2021 and November 2022. Upon completion of CZDS 3.0, the number of complaints submitted should be reduced due to automatic compliance escalation of unattended access requests in pending status. |
| 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 | ICANN Contractual Compliance continues to support the additional members dedicated to processing complaints regarding zone file access requests and continues to address new complaints consistently on a timely basis. Additionally, ICANN Contractual Compliance has initiated outreach efforts with contracted parties to resolve processing concerns. The total volume of complaints received per month remains consistently low since the last spike that occurred June of 2021. However, ICANN Contractual Compliance reiterates that implementation of the CZDS 3.0 project should help further reduce the number of complaints as the overwhelming majority of complaints concern pending requests for access, and most of the features of that project are aimed at quickening the renewal process. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | As previously reported, ICANN Contractual Compliance has dedicated additional members to processing complaints regarding zone file access requests and continues to train new members to assist in processing. As a result, ICANN Contractual Compliance has been able to address new complaints consistently on a timely basis. Additionally, ICANN Contractual Compliance has initiated outreach efforts with contracted parties to resolve processing concerns. The total volume of complaints received has remained consistently lower than the total received in June 2021, which was the highest volume received between June 2021 and May 2022. However, ICANN Contractual Compliance reiterates that successful implementation of the CZDS 3.0 project should help reduce the number of complaints, as it will, among other things support zone file access extension prior to their expiration date, automatic renewal of access as the default system behavior, and automatic compliance escalation of unattended access requests in pending status. |
| 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 | ICANN Contractual Compliance has dedicated additional members to processing complaints regarding zone file access requests and continues to train new members to assist in processing. Additionally, ICANN Contractual Compliance has initiated outreach efforts with contracted parties to resolve processing concerns and hopes to see improvement in that space as it relates to complaints received by ICANN. Finally, ICANN Contractual Compliance is supporting the CZDS 3.0 project, which should help reduce the number of complaints, as it will, among other things support zone file access extension prior to their expiration date, automatic renewal of access as the default system behavior, and automatic compliance escalation of unattended access requests in pending status. |
| 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 | ICANN Contractual Compliance is currently training additional staff members to assist in processing complaints related to zone file access requests. ICANN Contractual Compliance continues to address the contractual scope of denials and revocation of access to zone files with registry operators that appear to misunderstand the boundaries within which registry operators are allowed to do so. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | SAC097 was prepared in the first half of 2017. Since then ICANN org has worked with registry operators to decrease the number of zone file related complaints by creating awareness about zone files access. This includes multiple engagements and presentations to the gTLD Registries Stakeholder Group, the Brand Registry Group, and individual registries. |
| Phase 4 | AP Feedback | SSAC acknowledged the 08 June 2020 implementation update and did not have any comments or feedback for ICANN org. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | SAC097 was issued in the first half of 2017. Since SSAC097 was adopted by the Board, the ICANN org GDD (now GDS) and Compliance teams have worked with registry operators to decrease the number of zone file related complaints by creating awareness about zone files access. On multiple occasions at ICANN meetings, both teams have met with RySG and the Brand Registry Group to explain what zone files are, why it is important to allow public access, and what the contractual standard for denying access is. Additionally, GDD has conducted 1:1 training with registries to ensure they understand these things, and how to do the work within CZDS. In 2019 CZDS was replatformed, which improved the user experience for both registries and zone file consumers. One feature added during replatform was the ability for registries to auto-approve access requests, which is in use by approximately 50% of TLDs. Despite these efforts, the issues still persist and it is unlikely that the user complaints will materially reduce without implementation of recommendation #1. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | Since the update to CZDS in January 2019, the number of complaints that Contractual Compliance follows-up in a decreasing trend. While this trend is largely due to the auto-approve setting, the number of complaints is expected to decrease after Recommendation-1 is implemented. |
| Phase 4 | AP Feedback | SSAC acknowledged the 04 September 2019 implementation update and did not have any comments or feedback for ICANN org. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | Number of complaints requiring Contractual Compliance follow-up is decreasing. The adoption rate of the new auto-approve feature increased to 45% from 40% in June 2019. Number of TLDs that approve requests for a period longer than 2 years is increasing. |
| 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 | GDD and the Contractual Compliance team continue to work on reducing the number of zone file access complaints in a timely fashion. The implemented automatic approval feature helped to reduce the complaints. The current adoption rate of the new feature by gTLDs is at 40%. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | During CZDS platform migration, a new feature was added to provide an option to the registry operators to automatically approve a request as soon as it is received. Adoption rate of 38% percent of TLDs helped reduce the number of complaints due to delays. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | During CZDS platform migration, a new feature was added to provide an option to the registry operators to automatically approve a request as soon as it is received. Adoption rate of 38% percent of TLDs helped reduce the number of complaints due to delays. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | During re-platforming, a feature was deployed to enable registry operators to auto-approve zone file access requests. Within the first week after launch, new feature was adopted by 32% of TLDs on CZDS. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | During re-platforming, a feature was deployed to enable registry operators to auto-approve zone file access requests. Within the first week after launch, new feature was adopted by 32% of TLDs on CZDS. |
| Phase 4 | Phase Update | On 23 June 2018, the Board accepted this advice and directed the ICANN President and CEO or his designee to produce educational materials for registry operators to increase their awareness of ICANN?s expectations with respect to zone file access (https://www.icann.org/resources/board-material/resolutions-2018-06-23-en#1.g). |
| 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 3 Board Action: The Board accepts this advice and directs the ICANN President and CEO or his designee to produce educational materials for registry operators to increase their awareness of ICANN’s expectations with respect to zone file access. 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 3 to mean that the ICANN organization should seek ways to reduce the number of zone file access complaints and resolve complaints in a timely fashion. 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 3 to mean that the ICANN organization should seek ways to reduce the number of zone file access complaints and resolve complaints in a timely fashion. This understanding was sent to the SSAC on 10 July 2017. |
| Phase 2 | Board Understanding | The ICANN organization understands SAC097 Recommendation 3 to mean that the ICANN organization should seek ways to reduce the number of zone file access complaints and seek ways to resolve complaints in a timely fashion. |
| 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 org acknowledged receipt of SAC097: ICANN is in receipt of the following advice to the ICANN Board of Directors: SAC097 - SSAC Advisory Regarding the Centralized Zone Data Service (CZDS) and Registry Operator Monthly Activity Reports. This advice is now in process and has been assigned case number 00002128. Please retain this number for your records. Please note acknowledgement of advice does not imply acceptance or promise of implementation. An ICANN representative will be reaching out to you to begin the process of ensuring that the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) and ICANN share a mutual understanding of the actionable items of these recommendations. Thank you for your time and the work involved in producing this statement. |
| 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 |
