[nc-deletes] Draft Impact Statement

[Bret Fausett <fausett@lextext.com>]

Here's the draft impact statement for the Business Constituency.

  -- Bret

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          (DRAFT) IMPACT STATEMENT (DRAFT)
         OF THE GNSO'S BUSINESS CONSTITUENCY
       ON THE REPORT OF THE DELETES TASK FORCE


ISSUE 1: determine whether a uniform delete process by gtld registrars
following expiry is desirable, and if so, recommend an appropriate process.

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATION: The task force recommends that registrars should
be required to delete domain names that a customer has failed to renew.
(ICANN's new 30-day 'redemption grace period' would apply to all such
deletions.)  Additionally, in order to provide registrants with a complete
understanding of registrars' deletion and renewal policies, the task force
recommends that registrars inform registrants of those policies at the time
of registration and maintain them in a conspicuous place on their website.

IMPACT ON BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL REGISTRANTS: The change will bring greater
uniformity to registrar practices for deletion of domain names. Registrants
will now know, with certainty, that a domain name will be deleted if not
expressly renewed. In some instances, depending on a registrant's choice of
registrar, this may mean, however, that a registrant has less time to renew
a domain name than before. Given the new protections of the Redemption Grace
Period, coupled with the certainty that the new policy will bring, the
benefits of the new policy should outweigh any additional burdens.

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ISSUE 2: determine whether a uniform delete process by gtld registrars
following a failure of a registrant to provide accurate WHOIS information
upon request is desirable, and if so, recommend an appropriate process.

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATION: When a domain name is deleted for failure to
provide accurate whois data, the task force recommends that registrars
require that registrants of such names provide updated, verified Whois
information during the Redemption Grace Period in order to reclaim the name.

IMPACT ON BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL REGISTRANTS: Business and commercial
registrants alleged to have inaccurate whois data in their registrations
will have to ensure that the person designated in the whois database to
respond to registrar inquiries is able to verify the accuracy of the
registration information and provide proper authentication to the registrar.
Failure to provide such information could lead to the loss of a domain name.
Business and commercial registrants concerned about whois accuracy
generally, however, will benefit from the increased focus on accuracy that
this new policy brings.

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ISSUE 3: determine whether a uniform delete and re-allocation process by
gtld registries following receipt of a delete command from a registrar is
desirable, and if so, recommend an appropriate process.

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATION: No recommendation at this time. While the issue
is of concern to most members of the task force, the task force members do
not believe they can reach consensus on either part of this issue in the
current time frames. Task force members plan to recommend to the Names
Council that the task force be rechartered, or a new task force formed, to
examine only this issue.

IMPACT ON BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL REGISTRANTS: As no change to the status
quo is planned, no impact statement for Issue 3 is required at this time.

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ISSUE 4: determine whether a uniform process for reversing errors in renewal
commands without requiring a delete operation is desirable, and if so,
recommend an appropriate process.

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATION: The task force has found that this issue is
primarily technical in nature and recommends that that any changes to
current protocols are best pursued through technical fora such as the IETF.

IMPACT ON BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL REGISTRANTS: Possible changes to the RRP
and EPP protocols contemplated by issue 4 will impact the way registries and
registrars conduct business between themselves, but are unlikely to have any
effect on end-users, such as business and commercial registrants. To the
extent that business and commercial registrants believe they might be
impacted by any changes in these protocols, they are free to follow future
discussions in the appropriate technical forum.

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