[council] Research team announced for Whois Misuse study

[Liz Gasster <liz.gasster@xxxxxxxxx>]

All, the following has been posted at:  http://blog.icann.org/

Thanks, Liz


Cylab at Carnegie Mellon University selected to conduct study of Whois Misuse
By Liz Gasster

I am delighted to report that ICANN has engaged the Carnegie Mellon University 
(CMU) of Pittsburgh, PA, USA, CyLab to conduct a set of Whois Misuse Studies.

Working under the direction of principal investigator Dr. Nicolas Christin, 
this highly regarded cybercrime lab expects to spend approximately one year 
analyzing the extent, nature, and impact of harmful actions taken using Whois 
contact information. To accomplish this, the CMU team will survey gTLD domain 
Registrants about Whois misuse incidents they have experienced and use 
experiments to measure how well anti-harvesting measures reduce Whois misuse. 
Registries, Registrars, other cybercrime researchers, and law enforcement 
organizations will also be surveyed about reported cases of misuse.

These complementary studies are expected to provide the Generic Names 
Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council with the empirical data needed to assess 
community concerns about misused Whois contact information and inform any 
resulting policy changes. ICANN looks forward to working with CMU to apply 
their cybercrime expertise and experience to this challenging topic.

To learn more about Whois Misuse Studies or additional studies currently being 
considered by the GNSO, visit http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois/index.html 
http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois/index.html.

To learn more about Dr. Christin and his work at the CMU CyLab, visit 
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/nicolasc http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/nicolasc.