Issue

‘Thick’ Whois Policy Development Process

Upcoming Important Dates

GNSO Council consideration of the Final Report & Recommendations 

Summary

ICANN specifies Whois service requirements through its agreements with gTLD Registries and Registrars. Registries have historically satisfied their Whois obligations under two different models, characterized as “thin” and “thick” Whois registries. In a thin registration model the Registry only collects and publishes the minimal information associated with the domain name from the Registrar (such as DNS technical information).  All of the registrant’s contact information is maintained by the Registrar, which publishes it via their own Whois services. In a thick registration model the Registry collects both sets of data (domain name and registrant) from the Registrar and in turn publishes that data via Whois.  The Council initiated a Policy Development Process (PDP) to consider a possible requirement of "thick" Whois for all gTLDs. This issue is one that also affects access to Whois data, which is a law-enforcement-related issue.  The GAC has indicated its interest in both Whois and law enforcement-related issues in previous GAC Communiqués. The PDP WG published its Initial Report for public comment prior to the ICANN Meeting in Durban, which recommended requiring thick Whois for all gTLD registries. Following review of the comments received, the WG has now finalized its report and has submitted it to the GNSO Council for its consideration.

ALAC Engagement Opportunity Status

Additional opportunities for input will occur, provided the GNSO Council adopts the recommendations, such as a public comment forum on the policy recommendations prior to Board consideration as well as an invitation to the GAC to provide input to the ICANN Board on these recommendations if it believes that there are public policy issues raised by these recommendations

Additional Information

• Final Report
• Initial Report
• Public Comment Forum
• Thick Whois PDP
• This Whois Confluence Workspace

ALAC Related Documents

• ALAC Statement on the Study on Whois Privacy & Proxy Service Abuse
• ALAC Statement on the Thick Whois Initial Report – GNSO Policy Development Process
• ALAC Statement on the Whois Registrant Identification Study, Draft Report
• ALAC Statement on the Thick Whois PDP WG
• ALAC Analysis of AoC WHOIS Report Recommendations
• ALAC Statement on the WHOIS AC SO Request
• ALAC Correspondence Endorsing the IPC's Statement on the .com Renewal and Thick Whois
• ALAC Statement on the WHOIS Policy Review Team Final Report
• ALAC Statement on the WHOIS Policy Review Team Draft Report
• ALAC Statement on the Preliminary Issue Report on ‘Thick’ Whois
• ALAC Statement on WHOIS Review Team Policy - Discussion Paper
• ALAC Statement on the Whois Review Team
• ALAC Statement on the Recent WHOIS Reports
• ALAC Statement on Initial WHOIS Service Requirements Report
• ALAC Responds to GNSO WHOIS Hypothesis Working Group Report
• ALAC Comments on Privacy of Personal Data in the Whois System
• ALAC Calls for Progress on WHOIS Privacy