[dow1tf] FW: Milestones (and another copy of the Terms of Reference)

["Neuman, Jeff" <Jeff.Neuman@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I just realized this never went through.....

>  -----Original Message-----
> From: 	Neuman, Jeff  
> Sent:	Wednesday, December 03, 2003 10:46 PM
> To:	'dow1f@xxxxxxxxx'
> Subject:	Milestones (and another copy of the Terms of Reference)
> 
> All,
> 
> Thanks for participating in Tuesday's call.  Although there are a number
> of activities going on in the next few weeks (including the holiday
> season), I wanted to get a jump start on the activities that we are
> responsible for.
> 
> A.	Set Milestone Dates:  One of the first tasks in order to get started
> is to set milestone dates as to when the objectives identified in the
> Terms of Reference call be achieved.  According to the ICANN Bylaws, I
> think we have a total of 35 days to collect all of the information set
> forth below (and then an additional 5 days to draw up the final report) --
> Mid January --.  I know it is extremely aggressive, and I am copying Bruce
> Tonkin on this note to see what flexibility there is, but lets see what we
> can do.  The milestones (as identified in the Terms of Reference, a copy
> of which is provided below) are as follows:
> 
> (1) collect the stated needs and the justification for those needs from
> non-marketing users of contact information (this could be extracted from
> the Montreal workshop and also by GNSO constituencies, and should also
> include accessibility requirements (e.g. based on W3C standards)
> [milestone 1 date]
> 
> (2) review general approaches to prevent automated electronic data mining
> and ensure that the requirements for access are met (including
> accessibility requirements for those that may for example be visually
> impaired) [milestone 2 date]; and  
> 
> (3) determine whether any changes are required in the contracts to allow
> the approaches to be used above (for example the contracts require the use
> of the port-43 WHOIS protocol and this may not support approaches to
> prevent data mining) [milestone 3 date] 
> 
> Each milestone should be subject to development internally by the task
> force, along with appropriate public comment processes (e.g seeking
> specific advice from the technical community, or from WHOIS service
> operators) to ensure that as much input as possible is taken into account.
> 
> B.	Identification of "Non-Marketing Groups":  The second task is to
> identify which groups (in addition to the GNSO Constituencies and the
> ALAC) we should solicit input from on these issues.  In addition to the
> GNSO Constituencies (and the ALAC), the Terms of Reference states that we
> seek input from law enforcement and consumers.  It has also been suggested
> that we seek input from the RIRs.  To this end, if anyone has any contacts
> in these groups, or, if anyone has any ideas as to other types of groups
> in this category, please let us know.
> 
> C.	Constituency Statements:  We also need to notify our respective
> constituencies about these terms of reference and to begin soliciting
> statements from them.  It would be great to start getting these in over
> the next couple of weeks on the issues mentioned below.  
> 
> D.	Analysis of Existing Data:  Milestone number 1 references workshop
> and other materials that have already addressed this particular issue.
> Barbara, if you are reading this, is it possible to have you (or the
> someone else on the ICANN staff) sort out the applicable materials and
> send these to the group?  
> 
> These are just some of my initial thoughts.  I look forward to all of your
> input.  I again want to reiterate that my role as chair is to facilitate
> discussion and the development of the report.  I can't do this without the
> help from each of you.  Thanks again.
> 
> Jeff
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> **************************************************************************
> **************************************************************************
> *************************************************
> 
> Description of Task Force:
> ========================== 
> 
> In the recent policy recommendations relating to WHOIS:
> it was decided that the use of bulk access WHOIS data for marketing should
> not be permitted. However, these recommendations did not directly address
> the issue of marketing uses of Whois data obtained through either of the
> other contractually required means of access: Port 43 and web-based. Bulk
> access under license may be only a minor contributor to the perceived
> problem of use of Whois data for marketing purposes. A subset of a
> registrar's Whois database that is sufficiently large for data mining
> purposes may be obtained through other means, such as a combination of
> using free zonefile access (via signing a registry zonefile access
> agreement - the number of these in existence approaches 1000 per major
> registry) to obtain a list of domains, and then using anonymous (public)
> access to either port-43 or interactive web pages to retrieve large
> volumes of contact information. Once the information is initially obtained
> it can be kept up-to-date by detecting changes in the zonefile, and only
> retrieving information related to the changed records. 
> This process is often described as "data mining". The net effect is that
> large numbers of Whois records are easily available for marketing
> purposes, and generally on an anonymous basis (the holders of this
> information are unknown). 
> 
> The purpose of this task force is to determine what contractual changes
> (if any) are required to allow registrars and registries to protect domain
> name holder data from data mining for the purposes of marketing The focus
> is on the technological means that may be applied to achieve these
> objectives and whether any contractual changes are needed to accommodate
> them. 
> 
> In-scope 
> ======== 
> The purpose of this section to clarify the issues should be considered in
> proposing any policy changes. 
> 
> The task force should consider the effects of any proposed policy changes
> on the ability of groups such as law enforcement, intellectual property,
> internet service providers, and consumers to continue to retrieve
> information necessary to perform their functions. 
> 
> The task force should consider the effects of any proposed policy changes
> on the competitive provision of domain name services including WHOIS
> access and transfers, and on the competitive provision of value-added
> services using WHOIS information. 
> 
> Out-of-scope 
> ============ 
> To ensure that the task force remains narrowly focussed to ensure that its
> goal is reasonably achievable and within a reasonable time frame, it is
> necessary to be clear on what is not in scope for the task force. 
> 
> The task force should not aim to specify a technical solution. This is the
> role of registries and registrars in a competitive market, and the role of
> technical standardisation bodies such as the IETF. Note the IETF presently
> has a working group called CRISP to develop an improved protocol that
> should be capable of implementing the policy outcomes of this task force.
> However, the task force should seek to achieve an understanding of the
> various technological means that could be applied to prevent or inhibit
> data mining with an eye toward evaluating their impact on other uses and
> their compatibility with the currently applicable contracts. 
> 
> The task force should not review the current bulk access agreement
> Provisions, except to the extent that these can be improved to enhance
> protection against marketing uses and to facilitate other uses. These were
> the subject of a recent update in policy in March 2003. 
> 
> The task force should not study the amount of data available for public
> (anonymous) access for single queries. Any changes to the data collected
> or made available will be the subject of a separate policy development
> process. 
> 
> Tasks/Milestones 
> ================ 
> - collect the stated needs and the justification for those needs from
> non-marketing users of contact information (this could be extracted from
> the Montreal workshop and also by GNSO constituencies, and should also
> include accessibility requirements (e.g based on W3C standards) [milestone
> 1 date]
> - review general approaches to prevent automated electronic data mining
> and ensure that the requirements for access are met (including
> accessibility requirements for those that may for example be visually
> impaired) [milestone 2 date] 
> - determine whether any changes are required in the contracts to allow the
> approaches to be used above (for example the contracts require the use of
> the port-43 WHOIS protocol and this may not support approaches to prevent
> data mining) [milestone 3 date] 
> 
> Each milestone should be subject to development internally by the task
> force, along with appropriate public comment processes (e.g seeking
> specific advice from the technical community, or from WHOIS service
> operators) to ensure that as much input as possible is taken into account.
> 
> 
> Jeffrey J. Neuman, Esq. 
> Director, Law & Policy 
> NeuStar, Inc. 
> Loudoun Tech Center 
> 46000 Center Oak Plaza 
> Building X 
> Sterling, VA 20166 
> p: (571) 434-5772 
> f: (571) 434-5735 
> e-mail: Jeff.Neuman@xxxxxxxxxx 
> 
>