RE: [registrars] Representation on the GNSO WHOIS privacy steeringgroup (fwd)

[Jim Archer <jarcher@registrationtek.com>]

Hi Elana and thanks...

--On Friday, June 13, 2003 9:53 AM -0400 Elana Broitman 
<ebroitman@register.com> wrote:

> Hi Jim -  I agree with your concerns about NSI's practices of renewal
> notices and their problematic transfer policies.

I'm gald to hear that.  Thanks.

> I didn't have those issues in mind in nominating Brian.  Instead, I was
> focusing on a second registrar which would be a strong privacy advocate
> and Brian certainly has been, as judged by his postings and his ballot
> proposal on bulk whois.  I thought he'd provide a 2nd advocate, to Tom,
> who would press registrars' points of view.
>
> I'd like your thoughts further, however - thanks, Elana

The committee and position for which you have nominated Brian is a critical 
one that provide Brian with an opportunity to make a major impact not just 
upon our industry, but also potentially upon other industries.  For 
example, companies that sell SSL certs have a big steak in what happens to 
whois since they depend upon it to verify domain name ownership (and 
remember, Verisign also sells certs).  The IP people have a very big steak 
in what happens to whois.  Registrars, of course, will see legal and 
technical changes, the burden of funding will fall upon us (as with almost 
all domain policy changes).

My concern is that Brian is very new to this group and so we don't really 
have much track record to examine.  However, his company does have a well 
established track record in this area and its not one that I feel merits 
being rewarded with this important position.

To be fair, let's give Brian a chance to chime in.  Brian, what is your 
opinion of Verisign's behavior in this regard?  Do you feel that the 
actions I reviewed (that Verisign took) were appropriate for Verisign, or 
any registrar, to take?  If not, can you tell us (as the head of NSI) what 
steps have been taken at Verisign to prevent this from happening again?  If 
you feel the actions were ok, please explain why they were ok.


Jim



*************************
James W. Archer
CEO
http://www.RegistrationTek.com