[nc-whois] today's WHOIS call
Team:
I will unfortunately not be able to participate in
today's WHOIS call -- i will hook up with Karen, as well as with Marilyn to get
up-to-speed on what I may have missed.
One of the major sticking points in the drafts
seems to be in the area of our proposed 3-strike sanctions
policy. Some of the folks among registrars, resellers and
registries have expressed certain concerns about the policy, as it currently
exists, to me. I have paraphrased these, for us to ruminate over
:
1. The amount of the penalty
is so high ($1000 US) that it is so punitive that many registrars will spend all
their time simply trying to fix WHOIS information, or find ways to avoid being
fined. For a small, lower-margin registrar, $1000 per violation amounts to
having to sell 100 domain years to make the money back.
2. The method of "validating"
that a registrar is undertaking "necessary and sufficient" corrective action is
undefined. Leaving such a critical element undefined makes this policy
DOA
3. The thinking behind the
graduated sanctions, while it may be a laudable goal, needs to be further
refined, so that it can actually be enforceable. As currently proposed,
the policy may not have enough in it to withstand any legal
challenge
4. The policy, as currently
defined, is supposed to affect thick registries also. this works on the
assumption that the thick registries are responsible for the WHOIS data of the
registrant. In reality, the registrar still remains the only party who has
a contractual obligation with both the registrant and the registry, and
therefore, the registrar remains the only party to be affected by any 3-strike
policy.
5. Registries, as non-contracting
parties, in general are not supposed to contact registrants directly for any
solicitations ... does the WHOIS TF recommend a change in this policy, allowing
registries to directly contact registrants of domain names? Unless this
policy is modified, registries need to be left out of the 3-strikes
sanctions.
6. While registries may be capable
of administering such a policy, there will inevitably be costs associated with
such work, which the TF needs to also make a recommendation on. Work
requested needs to be associated with how it will be paid for.
Finally, I have heard some skepticism that ICANN
does not have the staffing (or the teeth) to enforce new policies.
Best Regards,
Ram
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Ram Mohan Vice President, Business Operations Afilias.INFO p: +1-215-706-5700; f: +1-215-706-5701 e: rmohan@afilias.info --------------------------------------------------------
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