[council] Pending additions to ICANN glossary -- update on Council request from Mexico City

[Liz Gasster <liz.gasster@xxxxxxxxx>]

All,

During our after-action meeting in Mexico City, several of you suggested that 
we update the ICANN glossary to add some basic terms that we refer to 
frequently but that are missing currently from that compendium 
http://www.icann.org/en/general/glossary.htm .  Definitions have been developed 
for the terms that were identified by Council members (copied below for your 
reference, note also an updated definition of WHOIS has been prepared).  These 
definitions are currently being translated and they will be added to the 
glossary when the translations are complete.

ICANN's Corporate Affairs department will be updating the glossary more broadly 
in the upcoming weeks.

We will also be adding a link to the glossary from the GNSO home page, 
http://gnso.icann.org/ .  This was also suggested in the Mexico meeting.

Thanks, Liz

PDP - Policy Development Process

A set of formal steps, as defined in the ICANN bylaws, to guide the initiation, 
internal and external review, timing and approval of policies needed to 
coordinate the global Internet's system of unique identifiers.

Operations Steering Committee

The Operations Steering Committee (OSC) coordinates, recommends and reviews 
changes to certain operational activities of the GNSO and its constituencies 
with a view to efficient outcomes.  These operational activity areas cover GNSO 
operations, Stakeholder Group and Constituency operations, and communications 
with GNSO and between GNSO and other ICANN structures.

Policy Process Steering Committee

The Policy Process Steering Committee (PPSC) reviews and recommends processes 
used within the GNSO for developing policy, including the use of Working 
Groups, and recommending any changes.

Registry Services Evaluation Process

The Registry Services Evaluation Process (RSEP) is ICANN's process for 
evaluating proposed gTLD registry services or contractual modifications for 
security, stability or competition issues. Further information on RSEP is 
available at http://www.icann.org/en/registries/rsep/.

WHOIS


WHOIS (pronounced "who is"; not an acronym) An Internet protocol that is used 
to query databases to obtain information about the registration of a domain 
name (or IP address).  The WHOIS protocol was originally specified in RFC 954 
<http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc954.txt>, published in 1985.  The current 
specification is documented in RFC 3912 <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3912.txt>.  
ICANN's gTLD agreements require registries and registrars to offer an 
interactive web page and a port 43 WHOIS service providing free public access 
to data on registered names. Such data is commonly referred to as "WHOIS data," 
and includes elements such as the domain registration creation and expiration 
dates, nameservers, and contact information for the registrant and designated 
administrative and technical contacts.
WHOIS services are typically used to identify domain holders for business 
purposes and to identify parties who are able to correct technical problems 
associated with the registered domain.