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ALAC Statement on the Study on Whois Misuse

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Introduction

The following individuals composed an initial draft of this Statement [PDF, 231 KB] after discussion of the topic within At-Large and on the Mailing Lists:

  • Holly Raiche, ALAC member from the Asian, Australasian and Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO) and member of the At-Large Leadership Team (ALT); and
  • Carlton Samuels, At-Large member from the Latin American and Caribbean Islands Regional At-Large Organization (LACRALO).

On 21 December 2013, this Statement was posted on the At-Large Study on Whois Misuse Workspace.

On 23 December 2013, Olivier Crépin-Leblond, Chair of the ALAC, requested ICANN Policy Staff in support of the ALAC to send a Call for Comments on the draft Statement to all At-Large members via the ALAC-Announce Mailing list.

On 6 January 2014, a version incorporating the comments received was posted on the aforementioned workspace and the Chair requested that Staff open an ALAC ratification vote on the proposed Statement.

On 11 January 2014, Staff confirmed that the online vote resulted in the ALAC endorsing the Statement with 12 votes in favor, 0 votes against, and 0 abstentions. You may review the result independently under: http://www.bigpulse.com/pollresults?code=3626IrSmNUNrCKpjkMYYjRYn

Summary

  1. The ALAC has studied the WHOIS Misuse Study commissioned by ICANN and executed by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University over the period. We note the study has returned findings that align with individual experience of At-Large constituents plus the evidence of widespread occurrence has validated similar research undertaken by At-Large connected researchers.
  2. The ALAC is aware that sectors in the ICANN community have weighed in on the results of this study, with one or other concerned questions on the methodology, size of dataset, geographic scope of study and/or the analysis of the data, all intended to undermine the findings. Nothing we have seen to date would have shaken our confidence in this baseline fact; WHOIS misuse is factual and widespread, as the evidence from 44% of sampled registrants across the several domains attest.
  3. The ALAC will support any useful measure to abate misuse, including but not limited to WHOIS data anti-harvesting techniques.