[gnso-contactinfo-pdp-wg] WHOIS-Related Current and Completed Work

Thu Feb 20 20:50:58 UTC 2014

Dear PDP WG members,

In response to the question from Amr today about whether there is
WHOIS-related PDP (or other) work that may be addressing the same issues as
the PDP WG please see below the list of current and recently completed work.
Staff have presented some of this information at various times in the
formation of this PDP WG, and via presentations from Margie Milam and Steve
Sheng at a previous meeting, but it appears that it would be helpful to put
it all in one place to avoid any confusion.  One thing to note is that
following the Board resolutions on WHOIS in November 2012 a large number of
projects (both PDP and non-PDP) were launched and the Board envisioned that
these would proceed concurrently, rather than consecutively.  See the
helpful blog from Margie Milam on all of the WHOIS-related developments at:
http://blog.icann.org/2013/03/whois-whats-to-come/.

As I noted on today's call, this PDP WG is the only PDP that addresses the
specific issues relating to the translation and transliteration of contact
information.  The work of this PDP WG will be taken into consideration in
conjunction with the Board-initiated PDP on gTLD directory services, which
is tied to the work of the Expert Working Group on gTLD Directory Services
(see below).  The final report of the EWG will form the Final Issue Report
for that Board-initiated PDP.

The Expert Working Group that is defining requirements for internationalized
registration data and a corresponding data model for gTLD registries (#3
below) is the group that Jim Galvin is leading.  The work of that group is
tied closely to that of this PDP WG.  Both relate to item #13 in the chart
in Margie's blog, which is taken from the Board's work plan.  That plan
states, "ICANN will form a community working group to determine appropriate
internationalized domain name registration data requirements based on
requirements set forth in GNSO internationalized registration data working
Group final Report."  The work this PDP WG will be considered by this EWG so
the two groups will coordinate closely.

I have added this information to the studies and background page on the wiki
at: 
https://community.icann.org/display/tatcipdp/7.+Studies+and+Background+Docum
ents.  For a list of active GNSO PDP and non-PDP projects see:
http://gnso.icann.org/en/group-activities/active.

As you can see, these efforts are very much intertwined.  Policies resulting
from this PDP WG (if any) will be key elements in future policies relating
to the development of a new gTLD directory service, in defining requirements
for internationalized registration data, and in the development of the data
model for gTLD registries.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Best regards,
Julie

Julie Hedlund, Policy Director

Recently Completed Work:

PDP on Thick WHOIS:
http://gnso.icann.org/en/group-activities/active/thick-whois

The GNSO Council requested an Issue Report on 'thick' Whois at its meeting
on 22 September 2011 noting that the Issue Report should 'not only consider
a possible requirement of 'thick' WHOIS for all incumbent gTLDs in the
context of IRTP, but should also consider any other positive and/or negative
effects that are likely to occur outside of IRTP that would need to be taken
into account when deciding whether a requirement of 'thick' WHOIS for all
incumbent gTLDs would be desirable or not'.

The Final Report was adopted by the ICANN Board on 07 February 2014. See the
resolution at: 
http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/documents/resolutions-07feb14-en.htm#2.
c. 

Current Work:

1. Study Group to Evaluate Available Solutions for the Submission and
Display of Internationalized Contact Data.
See: 
https://community.icann.org/display/whoisird/Study+to+Evaluate+Available+Sol
utions+for+the+Submission+and+Display+of+Internationalized+Contact+Data
<https://community.icann.org/display/whoisird/Study+to+Evaluate+Available+So
lutions+for+the+Submission+and+Display+of+Internationalized+Contact+Data>

The purpose of the study is to:
1. Document the submission and display practices of internationalized
registration data at a representative set of gTLD and ccTLD registries and
registrars.  
2. Investigate and document how other e-merchants or web sites manage
internationalized contact data.
3. Consider and assess the cost and functionality of commercial, open
source, or other known but as yet not widely implemented solutions for 1)
transliterating internationalized contact information to US-ASCII, 2)
translating internationalized contact information to English,  3)
transcribing internationalized contact information to US-ASCII, or 4) a
mixture of translation, transliteration and transcription.
4. Consider and assess the accuracy implications for transliteration and
translation of the internationalized contact data
5. Based on practices documented in 1  and understanding the issues raised
in 3 and 4  and best practices by other e-merchants in 2, summarize some
common best practices registry/registrar could do to minimize these
variations, if translation and/or transliteration is deemed necessary.
    The study team is currently on the first task, and has prepared a
registry and registrar survey to complete. Since this group is closely
working in this area, we appreciate very much if you have any feedback on
these survey questions. Such feedback will help us to make sure we ask the
right questions.  

2.  Expert Working Group on gTLD Directory Services, See:
http://www.icann.org/en/groups/other/gtld-directory-services

13 December 2012  Fadi Chehadé, ICANN's President and CEO, announces the
creation of an Expert Working Group on gTLD Directory Services. This first
step in fulfilling the ICANN Board's directive to help redefine the purpose
and provision of gTLD registration data will provide a foundation to help
the ICANN community (through the Generic Names Supporting Organization,
GNSO) create a new global policy for gTLD directory services. Interested
individuals are invited to indicate their interest in serving as volunteer
working group members.
Initial Report: 
http://www.icann.org/en/groups/other/gtld-directory-services/initial-report-
24jun13-en.pdf
Status Update Report:
http://www.icann.org/en/groups/other/gtld-directory-services/status-update-1
1nov13-en.pdf 
See the Preliminary Issue Report of the Board-initiated PDP at:
http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/gtld-registration-data-15mar13-e
n.htm. 

3.  Expert Working Group to Define Requirements for Internationalized
Registration Data and Corresponding Data Model for gTLD Registries
See: http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-08jul13-en.htm.

As part of the process to implement WHOIS review team recommendations
related to Internationalized Domain Name registration data requirements,
ICANN seeks volunteers who are community representatives with expertise in
linguistics, IDNA, policy and registry/registrar operations to participate
in a working group to determine appropriate Internationalized Domain Name
registration data requirements and data model for Registration Data
Directory Services (aka WHOIS services).  The result of the WG product will
go through a public comment process to ensure broad input is received. It
will form the basis for further policy development and/or contractual
framework for generic Top-level domains, as well as ideally becoming  a best
practice for country code top-level domains.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/gnso-contactinfo-pdp-wg/attachments/20140220/8042122e/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: smime.p7s
Type: application/pkcs7-signature
Size: 5041 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/gnso-contactinfo-pdp-wg/attachments/20140220/8042122e/smime.p7s>