[council] Revamped Whois Inaccuracy Reporting System Goes Live

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

[To: council[at]gnso.icann.org; liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org]
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http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-19dec08-en.htm
Revamped Whois Inaccuracy Reporting System Goes Live

19 December 2008

A redesigned system for receiving reports of inaccurate domain name 
registration data has gone live today.

The Whois Data Problem Report System (WDPRS) has a number of advantages over 
the previous system, which was first introduced in 2002. Among them are:

More detailed information is captured from complainants to assist registrars in 
investigating Whois inaccuracies
Duplicate reports regarding the same domain name are not accepted by the system
Reports concerning domains already on hold are removed
Greater capacity has been introduced to allow for bulk submissions of reports
Processes have been put in place to assess registrar compliance with RAA Whois 
inaccuracy investigation requirements
The revamped WDRPS can be found at http://wdprs.internic.net/.

Background:

The WDPRS allows the public to file reports of Whois inaccuracy regarding 
active domain names. The WDPRS transmits Whois inaccuracy reports, via email, 
to the sponsoring registrars for investigation as required by Section 3.7.8 of 
the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) 
http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/ra-agreement-17may01.htm.

In 2002, ICANN developed the WDPRS to improve Whois data accuracy and to assist 
registrars in carrying out their responsibility to take reasonable steps to 
investigate Whois inaccuracy claims. Although significant system enhancements 
were made over the past six years to address community needs, a more 
comprehensive system redesign was determined necessary to realise the system 
objectives. This new software system also allows ICANN to make future 
enhancements quickly to respond to community needs.

Since its implementation in 2002, ICANN has seen a significant rise in the 
number of Whois inaccuracy reports filed through this system. In 2002, 
approximately 24,000 Whois inaccuracy reports were filed using the WDPRS. In 
2008, over 200,000 reports have been filed since 1 March 2008

In an effort to improve Whois accuracy, registrar compliance with RAA 
investigation requirements, operational effectiveness, data processing, data 
recovery, and increase data capacity, ICANN commenced WDPRS redesign plans 
earlier this year. In consultation with the Intellectual Property Constituency, 
the Registrar Constituency and other community members, ICANN redesigned the 
system.

Through the redesigned WDPRS, ICANN seeks to address concerns raised by the 
Internet community regarding system irregularities, the filing of irrelevant 
claims and insufficient data capacity. ICANN conducted beta testing with 
external constituencies to ensure operational functionality and usability of 
the system prior to launching the redesigned WDPRS. ICANN encourages the 
Internet community to provide comments to ensure the continual improvement of 
the WDPRS.

Please submit comments at wdprs-comments@xxxxxxxxx
Comments may be viewed at http://forum.icann.org/lists/wdprs-comments/.

Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat
gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://gnso.icann.org