[gnso-rds-pdp-wg] Notes and action items from RDS PDP WG meeting

Tue Sep 6 17:36:39 UTC 2016

Dear All,

Please find below the notes & action items from today’s meeting.

Best regards,

Marika

===================

Notes 6/9 – RDS PDP WG Meeting:

These high-level notes are designed to help PDP WG members navigate through the content of the call and are not meant as a substitute for the transcript and/or recording. The MP3, transcript, and chat are provided separately and are posted on the wiki at: https://community.icann.org/x/C4xlAw.

1. Roll Call / SOI

·         Attendance will be taken from Adobe Connect

·         Please state your names before speaking and make sure to mute your mics when not speaking

2. How to factor use cases into deliberations

·         Any further questions/comments on use cases?

·         See also wiki (https://community.icann.org/x/JA6bAw)

·         WG agreed in Helsinki to spend some time on use cases to faciliate understanding of RDS use (current and possible future use)

·         Use cases only intended examine some real world scenarios as WG prepares for deliberations. As WG starts deliberations it may want to come back to some of the use cases or discover new ones. 

·         Fact that certain use cases were discussed, does not necessarily imply that those are tied to RDS requirements.

·         Use cases form a sample of some of the use cases, not intended to be exhaustive.

3. Review of work plan & discussion of approach for next step: Statement of Purpose. 

a. Review Board & SSAC Advice on the importance of  answering the question of purpose. 

·         See excerpts circulated prior to meeting

·         SAC055 - reviewed all work done to date, noted failure to agree on purpose of WHOIS system as one of the underlying issues. People attempting to use WHOIS for very different needs. SSAC recommended that it is critical that ICANN should develop a policy defining the purpose of domain name registration data. 

·         Board took the SSAC recommendation to heart (see Board resolution which kicked of the EWG as well as this PDP). Board has asked specifically that this PDP looks at the purpose of RDS and develop policy around supporting that purpose. 

·         What is purpose of the system in its entirety - need to step back from detailed uses to appreciate that question.

·         EWG purpose statement shared as a possible starting point for WG deliberations on a statement of purpose. 

·         Support to third parties may be a clear line to be drawn. 

·         What it is used for today may not be a requirement for what it is used for in the future. 

·         Purpose of the data, purpose of the system that makes the data available, purpose of collecting, maintaining and providing access to gTLD registration data - what purpose statement is the WG exactly focusing on? EWG has statement of purpose for RDS as well as a statement on permissable purposes. 

·         It could also be purposes or is it the view that there is only one purpose? There could be multiple purposes - will be for the WG to decide. 

·         An important point the SSAC report brings up is that if there are different purposes we should not constraing ourselves to a single method of access (currently the role that RDAP serves in "loose" conversation)

b. Review the RDS Statement of Purpose published in the EWG Report (Section IIb) & c. Initial exchange of views on RDS Statement of Purpose

·         See purpose statement circulated prior to meeting

·         No requirement for WG to adopt this statement. Just a point of reference. WG to review and discuss to allow to form its own statement of purpose. 

·         EWG tried to balance different aspects as best as they could.

·         Need to draw distinction between stable and secure operation of unique identifiers and promoting trust and confidence in the Internet for all stakeholders. Potential purpose is much easier to latch on to stable and secure operation of unique identifiers (need to know something to ensure that the system of allocating names works). Further out, more of a leap that it is promoting trust and confidence as a whole - it may be a benefit of linking it to the first one and doing that well, but maybe not a goal in itself?

·         Is the purpose of an RDS to ensure stable and secure operation of the Internet's unique identifier system? It is a requirement, not necessarily a purpose. Going back to the grassroots of WHOIS is so that technical operators could contact each other - that is where the stable and secure part comes in. Still uses of WHOIS that go back to that origin, but use cases have shown that is not the only use anymore. Making this assertion is just kicking the can down the road - RDS is just a mechanism to support the purpose. Security of the internet is a goal. A purpose statement should give us the reason why certain things tangentially connect to that goal. This purpose does not tell us why RDS should exist.

·         Is information about gTLD domain names necessary to promote trust and confidence in the Internet for all stakeholders? This statement reads more like a requirement statement than a purpose statement. As you design the system, this would be a criteria that may have a lot of weight. Could dictate questions such as who has access.  

·         Provides appropriate access to accurate, reliable and uniform registration data: is this desirable? Not necessarily a purpose statement. 

·         Protects the privacy of personal information: is this desirable? Procedures protect the privacy, not the system. 

·         Enables a reliable mechanism for identifying, establishing and maintaining the ability to contact Registrants. Is it possible to anonymously have a domain name registration? This question should be ultimately talked about to determine whether this is something that the WG wants to make that possible. Note, difference between anonymous and privacy/proxy registrations. 

·         Supports a framework to address issues, involving registrants, including but not limited to: consumer protection, investigation of a cybercrime, and intellectual property protection.

·         Provides an infrastructure to address appropriate law enforcement needs. Depends on the level of commitment and support that is in play. Would need more nuance to determine support or not. Law enforcement can contact service providers directly. Similar to telephone lines or hosting services where there is no such database but LE can do their job. Doesn't say it is needed, but says it provides an infrastructure. If any future system works for LE along with all the other uses identified, that should be fine, shouldn't be a goal in itself to build a system that works for LE. 

·         The whole statement is a long way from being a purpose. A purpose statement should be giving us reasons for the existence of this system. There's no link between this system and the goals.

·         Suggestion: The purpose of registration data is to support the life cycle of a domain name. Everything else is a secondary purpose. 

·         Does anyone have an example of a well formed statement of purpose that would be helpful to illustrate what this WG should aim for? What would be the elements of a statement for purpose for RDS:

-          Purpose has to describe some value that is essential, critical and essentially self-evident (cannot function without this particular value). For example, domain name system cannot function without some kind of data - which elements are the most basic that you need to have to support a life-cycle (creation, allocation, expiration, transfers, renewal). To take it a step further, the RDS supports the lifecycle by collecting relevant data for each lifecycle event. That data is defined by existing policies for those events. For example IRTP, renewals etc.

·         More accurate to define RDS as registration directory service or system? Still sounds incomplete, may need to think about whether the name describes well what it is the WG is dealing with. RDDS - registration data directory service. Clear line between supporting domain name life cycle and publishing data outside of that purpose. Need to have a discussion on whether that is an essential part of RDS. There may be other ways to do certain things - not all desired uses/requirements are compatible. 

·         Might be too early to talk about directory service, isn't that implementation?

·         Is WHOIS secondary to DNS? 

·         Is it an impossible task to meet all needs of the community? Should different RDS's be considered if it is not possible to fit everything into one system. 

·         Self-evident may depend on who you are asking?

Action item: WG members to continue thinking about purpose statement including essential elements and share thoughts on the mailing list. 

4. ICANN57: update on plans for F2F meeting

5. Confirm next meeting (13 September at 16.00 UTC) & next steps

Marika Konings

Senior Policy Director & Team Leader for the GNSO, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 

Email: marika.konings at icann.org  

Follow the GNSO via Twitter @ICANN_GNSO

Find out more about the GNSO by taking our interactive courses and visiting the GNSO Newcomer pages.

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